The Best Record of 1989: Day 30
#53 Operation Ivy, Energy vs #76 Ciccone Youth, The Whitey Album
Good morning!
Today we’re taking a look at records from an antecedent of Rancid, and a Sonic Youth side project.
Note: As many of you know, I recently wrote about a Best Record of 1989 challenge and noted that I'd be occasionally writing some of these up.
I've started doing some quick hits of each matchup and posting them directly to the page. Some will be longer, some won’t, and some might just be a handful of sentences. There'll probably definitely be some typos.
Check 'em out and let me know your thoughts! Chin wags & hot takes welcome! Sharing and restacks are always appreciated.
KA—
The strip mall Babylon I grew up in was punctuated with subdivisions that only kinda connected with one another. You could get there, but winding up on a new street sometimes felt like you needed a passport. Meeting in shared spaces like the Chevron parking lot or the local elementary school was much easier. The latter had a huge covered area--this was Oregon, after all-- that lent itself nicely to skating during the off hours. Invariably, someone would bring a boombox and something like Operation Ivy would soundtrack the session. My block had a taste for bands like Jawbreaker, while the next subdivision over fell in love with 3rd wave ska like this.
Like many bands of the era, Operation Ivy burned fast and burned quickly, which often makes me wonder if that brevity leads to more of a legacy than might otherwise be warranted, similar to the way Joy Division is lionized. Like our friends from Manchester, Op Ivy was only around for a couple of years and really only released one full-length record (there was also Hectic, an EP, but I digress).
Similarly, some of the band members went on to relative fame after the dissolution of this one, with Tim "Lint" Armstrong and Matt Freeman moving on to help form Rancid.
The record is loud, fast, and brash. Think of Ranicd before; some of the edges were sanded off. They were a little bit messy and had minimal low-end. Jesse Michael's voice sounds like he's living on a steady diet of Marlboros and fast livin'. This was just how we liked it. The lyrics covered the usual bases (love, F authority, etc.), all with a beat going 100 mph. Think a sped-up version of the Clash.
It's also worth noting that this record hit in the very narrow sweetspot before purity tests and gatekeepers took back over; no one bothered to tell them that they weren't playing ska "correctly,' or that it wasn't fast (or angry) enough to be punk. They did their own thing, fused the two, and let'er rip. If you're new to this record, start with "Soundsystem" and go from there. You might also recognize opener "Knowledge" from Green Day's cover of it.
Energy is a solid record that lends (lends?) itself well to those sorts of drives that go nowhere on purpose or an afternoon skating session on an unseasonably sunny fall Saturday. It's a landmark album of third-wave ska/ska-punk that inspired many bands that went on to far greater levels of fame than they enjoyed.
Operation Ivy walked so Green Day could run.
There's no shortage of bands that are essentially Sonic Youth tribute bands. Nothing wrong with that, but I'm always more interested in what Sonic Youth were into. What ingredients went into the sound that ultimately influenced so many?
I don't have a full list, but at one point, they were into Madonna enough to record a few tracks for a tribute record that never came to pass. But the band wasn't about to leave those on the shelf. The result? One of the oddest side projects of the day: The Whitey Album by Ciccone Youth (Madge's legal last name).
I vaguely recall reading that SY had all their gear stolen at one point. That's bad enough on its own, but I knew from seeing them that they used some instruments for a specific song or even a specific effect. Again, going off of memory, but I could swear some were described as things like "the one used with a screwdriver." (EDIT: I found a list and a plea from Lee Ranaldo for its safe return.)
I mention this because, at first, The Whitey Album feels like the sorts of odds and ends that can only come from noodling around in the studio and testing things out. The first couple of tracks are full of odd snippets and sounds that never quite arrive at being fully formed. There's even a full minute of silence (the aptly titled "Silence").
"G-Force" is one of those tracks where Kim Gordon does something resembling a rant or poetry slam. Dealer's choice. In other words, something only Sonic Youth can get away with. That's all good, but like on their other records, it can feel like a toll you need to pay to gain access to the good stuff.
And The Whitey Album does have a couple of those nuggets. Their version of "Burnin' Up" is a slowed-down, louche version. It's great. It's also something only this band could pull off. "Into the Groovey" is about as faithful a rendition as you're gonna get here, mainly due to sampling the original. "Tuff Titty Rap" is a nod to old school hip hop and feels like the band had two too many margaritas before trying to karaoke something off of LL Cool J's Walking With a Panther, getting just far enough in before the Dj cut the mic.
"Too Cool Rock Chicks Listening to Neu" might be the most niche title we see in the first round, and I'm here for it (not so much the song, though).
So! What to make of all this, exactly? In some ways, The Whitey Album feels like an inside like four friends are all in on, and in others like something best left in the studio. It's too earnest to be a joke album, yet too joke-y to be regarded as a regular album. Is it satire? Is it art? You can never be sure with Sonic Youth, but you're better off for having experienced it. And maybe that's the point.
Bottom Line: If The Whitey Album was labeled as a Sonic Youth Record, I think it would sail through primarily on name recgontion. Similarly, if the name Operation Ivy had been replaced with the band's logo, it would've punched above its weight. I love both these bands, and nostalgia admittedly plays into that. I am lucky to have both seen SY play and been turned onto Operation Ivy by the older kids in my circle.
That said, Energy holds up way better than The Whitey Album. Sure, once you've heard one song, you've (more or less) heard them all, but I happen to like those songs, and I think that outweighs The Whitey Album's coming across more as an experiment than anything else.
My vote: My bracket pick and vote will be going to Operation Ivy.
Any thoughts on either of these records? Agree/disagree with my takes? Which one of these would you vote for? Sound off in the comments!
Check out the full bracket here.
Info on the tourney, voting, and more is here.
As always, thanks for being here.
KA—
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