Sonic Youth - Hold That Tiger

In October 1987, four months after the release of their critically acclaimed Sister LP, Sonic Youth showcased their latest work in a blistering set at Cabaret Metro, Chicago. The concert was introduced by Big Black’s Steve Albini and subsequently released as a semi-official bootleg under the title Hold That Tiger on writer/provocateur Byron Coley’s  label Goofin’.

Hold That Tiger’s sterling reputation among the Sonic Youth faithful is well deserved. In fact, it isn’t a stretch to suggest that the album is to the first handful of SY releases what It’s Alive is to the first three Ramones LPs—a feral and liberatory public snapshot of a band’s blossoming imperial phase. Indeed, HTT is the sound of a group at the peak of their powers, presenting new songs alongside a handful of older ones with the kind of wild, cathartic enthusiasm common to rock ’n’ roll’s most revered live albums.

Taking nothing away from Sister, it is reasonable that many fans prefer the live versions heard on Hold That Tiger to their studio counterparts. On HTT, Sonic Youth is a spiky, pummeling and confident force, alternately mammoth and meditative. Sister and its predecessor EVOL notably added an airy, dreamlike reverie to the band’s turbulent doom-lurch, a stylistic evolution that seems to crystallize on HTT.

Hold That Tiger’s encore - four songs by the band’s beloved Ramones - serves as a reminder that, like any true punks, Sonic Youth never could resist a good, rousing anthem to send the kids home with their ears ringing, their hearts hot-wired.

This first-time reissue comes with gatefold jacket. Mastered by Bob Weston from the original tapes. Recorded by Aadam Jacobs. Audio repair/editing by Aaron Mullan.

Available as:
CD / 2LP STANDARD BLACK VINYL  / 2LP BLUE VINYL  (Image NA)

Tracklist:
01. Schizophrenia
02. Tom Violence
03. White Kross
04. Kotton Krown
05. Stereo Sanctity
06. Brother James
07. Pipeline / Kill Time
08. (I Got a) Catholic Block
09. Tuff Gnarl
10. Death Valley '69
11. Beauty Lies in the Eye
12. Expressway to Yr. Skull
13. Pacific Coast Highway
14. Loudmouth
15. I Don't Wanna Walk Around with You
16. Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World
17. Beat on the Brat