EVOL

Sonic Youth's first album for SST Records, released in 1986, carried no wave's aesthetic to the national underground scene and won the band notices from Robert Palmer and Neil Young. It marked a turning point in how the band balanced experimentation against song structure, growing more confident without losing the noise. The SST connection also placed Sonic Youth alongside the label's other bands, tying the downtown scene's legacy to the broader American underground of the mid-eighties.

Where to start with NYC No Wave