Despite that I do like Junkie's Promise I can also understand that. Thurston has written much, much better lyrics before and after Junkie's Promise. I think what I appreciate the most about that song is his vocal because it is very different from his usual vocal-style. I like that he sings certain parts of it more aggressively, and in this song I can actually overlook the lyrical content on its own for that reason.

Whereas Panty Lies is just a typical Kim song. Nothing stands out about it (except maybe the music), and therefore it is harder for me to look past the lyrics and her delivery of them.

it never occurred to me this song could be about cobain. there were a lot of people on the junk back then.

1. Diamond Sea
2. Washing Machine
3. Becuz
4. Little Trouble Girl
5. Junkie's Promise
6. Becuz Coda
7. Skip Tracer
8. Unwind
9. Saucer-Like
10. No Queen Blues
11. Panty Lies

Lizard Person V&

Junkies promise lyrics are spot on for realism. Unfortunatley the song itself kinda sucks like the rest of the album. My junk mate bless his fekin soul I suspect bought the album for this song only to realise the live daydream songs were better. Kims tuning is the best ting garn on 'ere

This is tough. "The Diamond Sea" is obviously one of Sonic Youth's crowning achievements, but I'm not always up for the 18 min. version! Sometimes I have to admit I go with the radio edit. So that makes it a bit difficult. "Skip Tracer" is a fucking triumph.

1. Skip Tracer
2. The Diamond Sea
3. Becuz / Becuz coda (y'all forgot the coda... work's on its own as an arrangement.)
4. Unwind
5. Washing Machine
6. Saucer-like
7. Little Trouble Girl
8. No Queen Blues
9. Junkie's Promise
10. Panty Lines

I actually like all of these songs. I go back and forth between "Unwind" and "Saucer-Like"... they're like two sides of the same coin, and while I tend to prefer Tracks with Lee on vocals, "Unwind" has that killer second half. Tension and dissonance and a build-up more ominous than that of "Saucer-Like."

I see a lot of folks have issues with "Junkie's Promise" and "Panty Lines," but I like both tracks. Junkie's is one of the heaviest Sonic Youth songs. You can hear a bit of Melvins in that crunching guitar. It defies pop songcraft and melody and sounds ugly as sin but it's also very full and has a great climax.

"Panty Lines" is obviously not a classic, but I don't skip over it. There's a lot about it to love. But then I also like Arthur Doyle Hand Cream, so... maybe I'm just fucked up?

Bottom line about Washbg Machine though: it's great (great) but I disagree with the common belief that it represents a return to form for the band. I actually prefer Goo and A Thousand Leaves over it in terms of the band's '90s output. I don't think they needed any "saving" or "rebranding" after EJST&NS. I fucking LOVE that album. Who among us hasn't had "Bull in the Heather" and "Sweet Shine" stuck in our heads for the past 20 years?

Dudes/dudettes:

This is fun. Let's rank more albums' songs!

I agree you today, but when EJST&NS came, it was really big disappointment to me. I even thought I may not buy any SY album anymore. And I felt when I listened Washing Machine first time I got one of my favourite bands back. Even I now love also EJST&NS, it´s not in my top four SY albums. Also I have always loved GOO, but prefer Washing much more. It´s just so introverted album and I just love introverted music!

I am not claiming EJST&NS is some kind of hit album, one reason why I began to respect it later is that I understood how they wanted to do very non-hit album after Dirty. Kind of destroying their possible success in rokbuziness.

Being a kid that did not get into SY until EJST&NS, I am always intrigued to hear people's perceptions of this time period for SY from the already existing fanbase. In retrospect, I can certainly see where this was an odd time.

For me, my first live SY experience was Lollapalooza, shortly before Washing Machine was even released. Only about a year or so of really getting into the,. So experiencing songs from this album live before knowing them, coupled with my overall euphoria just solidified this album's placement as a favorite in my history.