My inability to connect with the music of Sonic Youth is one of my life's greatest embarrassments. When I think about it now, it conjures up a lot of "missed connection"-type feelings, as if I just barely missed out on being a huge fan. On paper, they were the perfect band for me -- I worshipped Marc Jacobs, Sofia Coppola and Chloe Sevigny as a teen and any band fronted by a woman was of interest to me. I got really into a lot of bands peripheral to and clearly inspired by Sonic Youth, and even listened to Hole. But somehow I missed the boat, and as an adult I have always had a hard time listening to their music, which is so dissonant, and tends to conjure up memories and emotions from adolescence that I'd rather not indulge in.
I'm really hopeful that reading Kim Gordon's exceptional memoir Girl in a Band will change that for me. This has always been my experience with music memoirs -- when I lack an entry-point into the band's catalog, I have used literary connections to forge my own path, which comes so much more naturally. Kim Gordon is someone I greatly admire and even though I didn't listen to her music, she served as a major style and feminist icon in my coming-of-age. Her memoir is really great, with just enough dirt on the 90s music scene, and a really intense description of her Joan Didion-era California upbringing.