According to the band’s Web site, a museum in Dusseldorf, Germany, on Jan. 31 opened an exhibition titled “Sonic Youth ETC.: Sensational Fix.” The exhibit showcases Sonic Youth’s collaborations with artists, musicians, filmmakers and other works. In the arts world, there is no higher achievement and more gratifying experience than collaboration.
So it is not surprising to see HarperCollins’ title, “Noise: Fiction Inspired by Sonic Youth.” edited by Peter Wild on shelves in 2009. “Noise” is a great collection of stories that just skirts the line of the surreal, which is much like the music that the accounts are based upon. From college dorm-dwelling ghosts and night-owl introverts to bloodied severed hands and occasional appearances by the band members, this collection is made up of dark and beautiful short fiction to read with your iPod set to Sonic Youth on full volume.
Each story is prefaced by the author’s opinion about a specific Sonic Youth song, an explanation of the story itself or a description of why the author enjoys the band’s style. “Kim’s voice is somehow both menacing and alluring in this song. […] The song could be a girl’s whispered confession or taunting denial. It could be both. You’re never really sure, but you want to keep listening,” writes true crime author Rebecca Godfrey, as she introduces her story “Shadow of a Doubt,” which also creates a magical and unforgettable first-person narrative.
In J. Robert Lennon’s “Death to our Friends,” the author of six novels creates a sense of driving urgency combined with a ghostlike quality, much like the instrumental song of the same name off Sonic Youth’s album “Evol.” He describes an 18-year-old girl who rushes to get away from her detestable roommate who makes her sleep on the floor. She escapes outside to the grassy quad “to emerge into light and air and freedom.” But every morning she ignorantly dashes past a little, dark-haired girl, named Annabel, in the dorm stairwell. One day, the unnamed 18-year-old finally confronts the little girl who blocks her path and is forced to learn the truth about her mortal self.
Screenwriter Scott Mebus wrote another piece named after “Bull in the Heather” off “Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star.” His narrative begins, “Sue Carlyle was shopping for a penis.” As the story evolves, the reader sees how the SY lyrics feed into the story. “Time to tell your dirty story … tell me that you’re going to score me,” seems to sound off as na�ve, pale-skinned Sue searches for a realistic dildo for her sexually unsatisfied girlfriend. With the help of a patient but giggly male clerk, she finds “the Bull,” an apparently anatomical replica of a famous porn star. Scott definitely hits home with the wonderment, confusion and hilarity of Sue’s experience in an adult store from her brush-off of the novelty breast-shaped pasta to her “sexual Frankenstein” purchase and her uncomfortable speed walk past the store’s more serious-looking leather bedroom devices.
It is obvious by the quality of “Noise” that the collaborative work of Sonic Youth spreads beyond art and rock. Just like the music by the gods of noise, this great short fiction anthology is definitely worth making a part of your nerdy rock-and-roll-obsessed collection.
Rating: W W W W
