Sister is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth. It was released in June 1987, through SST Records.
The album furthers the band's move away from noise rock towards more traditional song structures, while maintaining an aggressively experimental approach
Background[]
A loose concept album (like its follow-up Daydream Nation), Sister was in part inspired by the life and works of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. (The "sister" of the title was Dick's fraternal twin, who died shortly after her birth, and whose memory haunted Dick his entire life.) The album features aggressive noise songs such as "White Cross" and "Catholic Block", plus haunting noir ode "Pacific Coast Highway". The group has regularly played songs such as "Schizophrenia", "White Cross" and "Kotton Krown" long after the album's release. CD bonus track "Master-Dik" is a strange rap song which mentions Ciccone Youth; its title is a reference to New York City mastering facility Masterdisk.
As usual, Moore and Gordon handled most of the vocal duties on the album, but Ranaldo sang "Pipeline/Kill Time".
Track listing[]
All songs written and composed by Sonic Youth (Lee Ranaldo, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Steve Shelley), except as indicated.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lyrics/vocals | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Schizophrenia" | Gordon, Moore | 4:38 | ||
| 2. | "(I Got A) Catholic Block" | Moore | 3:26 | ||
| 3. | "Beauty Lies in the Eye" | Gordon | 2:20 | ||
| 4. | "Stereo Sanctity" | Moore | 3:50 | ||
| 5. | "Pipeline/Kill Time" | Ranaldo | 4:35 | ||
| 6. | "Tuff Gnarl" | Moore | 3:15 | ||
| 7. | "Pacific Coast Highway" | Gordon | 4:18 | ||
| 8. | "Hot Wire My Heart" | Johnny Strike | Moore, Gordon, Ranaldo | 3:23 | |
| 9. | "Kotton Krown[a]" | Gordon, Moore | 5:08 | ||
| 10. | "White Kross[b]" | Moore | 2:5 |