Dandy Classic Track of the Day #31 – Sonic Youth

Kissability – Sonic Youth (Daydream Nation, 1988)

This relatively obscure song off of Sonic Youth’s seminal LP “Daydream Nation” is one of my favorites by the Godfathers of Alternative Rock. Buried deep on the record, “Kissability” encapsulates in three brief minutes what made the band great when they were hitting on all cylinder’s.

It opens with Thurston Moore hitting an open chord on his guitar before the song settles into a galloping, hypnotic groove anchored by Lee Renaldo’s drumming. Sung by the bassist Kim Gordon it appears to be about a casting director filling a potential starlet with thoughts of grandeur (“Look into my eyes, don’t you trust me? You’re so good you can go far. I’ll put you in a movie, don’t you wanna?” in an attempt to seduce her (at least that’s my take on it).

I love it when she breathlessly sings “Drive me crazy, you make me sick, drive me crazy, give us a kiss!” right before the intense instrumental breakdown and freak out section of the song. The band is so locked in it’s scary.

This song is so good and intense I’ll never understand why it never has been propped up as one of SY’s better songs. The length is perfect for radio and the musicianship is outstanding. As far as Sonic Youth goes it’s pretty damn accessible. You can be a star, it ain’t hard :).