It’s not my favorite Sonic Youth record (that honor belongs to the one that came before it, Goo); in fact the first time I ever owned a copy of it was when the Deluxe Edition came out some years ago. It has been generally (though unfairly) regarded as the band’s attempt to make an actual hit record (thanks in part to Butch Vig’s production), but after it failed, Sonic Youth never bothered to try too hard anymore, resulting in great, late-period records like Sonic Nurse (my 2nd favorite) and Rather Ripped (the “not-so-noisy” one). Still, Dirty was an album that had to happen, and it contained a number of great tracks, like “Sugar Kane,” “Chapel Hill,” “Theresa’s Sound-World,” and of course, “100%,” which my cover band Blast Ople has closed 99% of our sets with since 1998.
Happy 20, Dirty. Someday, I will own you in vinyl.
