Confusion Is Sex
Encyclopedia
Confusion Is Sex is Sonic Youth
's first studio album, originally released on 12" vinyl in 1983 on Neutral. It was reissued on SST Records in 1987 and on CD in 1995 on DGC
with extra tracks from the Kill Yr Idols
EP. The album features a live cover of The Stooges
' "I Wanna Be Your Dog
". The cover image is a sketch by bassist Kim Gordon
of guitarist Thurston Moore
. This image was used on gig poster
s early in the band's career.
Confusion is Sex is the only Sonic Youth album on which guitarist Lee Ranaldo
plays bass, specifically on the song "Protect Me You".
The album was recorded by Wharton Tiers
in his Chelsea studio (which he had set up in the basement of a building where he worked as superintendent). It was mostly recorded during Jim Sclavunos
' brief tenure as drummer for the band, and he appears on drums for most of the album. Frustrated by the unconventional recording situation in Tiers' studio and generally not clicking with the band musically, Sclavunos was ejected and Bob Bert
was invited back, and recorded drums for "Making the Nature Scene". Bert appears on this track and the live "I Wanna Be Your Dog
" on the album.
This album features a guitar sound often reminiscent of clock
s and bells
. This is created by using prepared guitar
s with screwdrivers stuck between the fretboard and the strings. Notable songs where Ranaldo and Moore used this 3rd bridge
technique are "Protect Me You", "The World Looks Red" and "Lee is Free". On the preceding EP the technique is also used. On later albums the group abandoned the technique on their official albums and shifted to a deeper focus on alternate tunings. The group got the idea of the prepared guitar techniques from their experiences with Glenn Branca
, who also published this album on his label Neutral Records
.
The track "The World Looks Red" wasn't played for 20 years. However, Sonic Youth have started to use "The World Looks Red" in their live sets since 2006. Pictures like the one on the left with the screwdriver on the 9th fret are taken on this particular track. No other tracks of Sonic Youth have this specific preparation at that particular spot during live sets. The track "Confusion is Next" contains lyrics sung twice by Moore. The first part of the song is slow and the second chapter everything is played twice the speed. The title was later used for the book by Alec Foege
.
The track "Lee is Free" is recorded on two tape recorders by Lee Ranaldo solo at home.
1995 CD reissue bonus tracks
Technical personnel
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
's first studio album, originally released on 12" vinyl in 1983 on Neutral. It was reissued on SST Records in 1987 and on CD in 1995 on DGC
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
with extra tracks from the Kill Yr Idols
Kill Yr Idols
Kill Yr Idols is a 1983 EP by the rock band Sonic Youth, originally released only in Germany.In 1995, the tracks on Kill Yr Idols not found on 1983's Confusion Is Sex were appended to the DGC reissue of that album.-Side one:...
EP. The album features a live cover of The Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
' "I Wanna Be Your Dog
I Wanna Be Your Dog
"I Wanna Be Your Dog" is a 1969 song by the American rock band The Stooges. The song is featured on their self-titled debut album. Its memorable riff, composed of only three chords , is played continuously throughout the song...
". The cover image is a sketch by bassist Kim Gordon
Kim Gordon
Kim Althea Gordon is an American musician, vocalist, artist, record producer, video director and actress. She has sung and played bass and guitar in the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, and in Free Kitten with Julia Cafritz...
of guitarist Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
. This image was used on gig poster
Poster
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...
s early in the band's career.
Confusion is Sex is the only Sonic Youth album on which guitarist Lee Ranaldo
Lee Ranaldo
Lee M. Ranaldo is an American singer, guitarist, writer, record producer, and visual artist, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth...
plays bass, specifically on the song "Protect Me You".
The album was recorded by Wharton Tiers
Wharton Tiers
Wharton Tiers is an American audio engineer, record producer, drummer and percussionist.- Biography :Diplomed from Villanova University , he moved to New York City in 1976 and was part of the No Wave scene.As an audio engineer and record producer, he has worked on projects such as Sonic Youth,...
in his Chelsea studio (which he had set up in the basement of a building where he worked as superintendent). It was mostly recorded during Jim Sclavunos
Jim Sclavunos
Jim Sclavunos is an American rock music drummer, percussionist and producer.Sclavunos, a half-Greek and half-Italian from Brooklyn, New York , is well-known for his exceptional height at 6'7". Sclavunos has performed with Sonic Youth, Tav Falco's Panther Burns, Lydia Lunch and was a member of 8...
' brief tenure as drummer for the band, and he appears on drums for most of the album. Frustrated by the unconventional recording situation in Tiers' studio and generally not clicking with the band musically, Sclavunos was ejected and Bob Bert
Bob Bert
Robert Bertelli, better known as Bob Bert, is an American rock drummer.Bert is the son of the quarterback Angelo Bertelli. Based in Hoboken, New Jersey, Bert initially came to prominence as drummer for the experimental rock band Sonic Youth during the early to mid-1980s. Bert played on the Sonic...
was invited back, and recorded drums for "Making the Nature Scene". Bert appears on this track and the live "I Wanna Be Your Dog
I Wanna Be Your Dog
"I Wanna Be Your Dog" is a 1969 song by the American rock band The Stooges. The song is featured on their self-titled debut album. Its memorable riff, composed of only three chords , is played continuously throughout the song...
" on the album.
This album features a guitar sound often reminiscent of clock
Clock
A clock is an instrument used to indicate, keep, and co-ordinate time. The word clock is derived ultimately from the Celtic words clagan and clocca meaning "bell". A silent instrument missing such a mechanism has traditionally been known as a timepiece...
s and bells
Bell (instrument)
A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
. This is created by using prepared guitar
Prepared guitar
A prepared guitar is a guitar that has had its timbre altered by placing various objects on or between the instrument's strings, including other extended techniques...
s with screwdrivers stuck between the fretboard and the strings. Notable songs where Ranaldo and Moore used this 3rd bridge
3rd Bridge
The 3rd bridge is an extended playing technique used on some string instruments , that allows a musician to produce distinctive timbres and overtones that are unavailable on a conventional string instrument with two bridges...
technique are "Protect Me You", "The World Looks Red" and "Lee is Free". On the preceding EP the technique is also used. On later albums the group abandoned the technique on their official albums and shifted to a deeper focus on alternate tunings. The group got the idea of the prepared guitar techniques from their experiences with Glenn Branca
Glenn Branca
Glenn Branca is an American avant-garde composer and guitarist known for his use of volume, alternative guitar tunings, repetition, droning, and the harmonic series. In 2008 he was awarded an unrestricted grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.-Beginnings: 1960s and early 1970s:Branca...
, who also published this album on his label Neutral Records
Neutral Records
Neutral Records is an independent record label. Glenn Branca ran the label during the No Wave and post-punk scene in the Lower East Side, New York, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Among their releases were early records by Swans and the first EP by Sonic Youth as well as Confusion is Sex....
.
The track "The World Looks Red" wasn't played for 20 years. However, Sonic Youth have started to use "The World Looks Red" in their live sets since 2006. Pictures like the one on the left with the screwdriver on the 9th fret are taken on this particular track. No other tracks of Sonic Youth have this specific preparation at that particular spot during live sets. The track "Confusion is Next" contains lyrics sung twice by Moore. The first part of the song is slow and the second chapter everything is played twice the speed. The title was later used for the book by Alec Foege
Alec Foege
Alec Foege is an American author and magazine journalist. A former contributing editor to Rolling Stone, he is the author of three books: Confusion Is Next: The Sonic Youth Story Alec Foege is an American author and magazine journalist. A former contributing editor to Rolling Stone, he is the...
.
The track "Lee is Free" is recorded on two tape recorders by Lee Ranaldo solo at home.
Track listing
All tracks were written by Sonic Youth, except where noted.- "(She's in a) Bad Mood" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 5:36
- "Protect Me You" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 5:28
- "Freezer Burn/I Wanna Be Your DogI Wanna Be Your Dog"I Wanna Be Your Dog" is a 1969 song by the American rock band The Stooges. The song is featured on their self-titled debut album. Its memorable riff, composed of only three chords , is played continuously throughout the song...
" (The StoogesThe StoogesThe Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
) (vocals Gordon) – 3:39 - "Shaking Hell" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 4:06
- "Inhuman" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 4:06
- "The World Looks Red" (lyrics Michael GiraMichael GiraMichael Rolfe Gira is an American musician, author, and artist. He is the main force behind the recently reformed New York City musical group Swans and fronts the Angels of Light...
, vocals Moore) – 2:43 - "Confusion Is Next" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 3:28
- "Making the Nature Scene" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 3:01
- "Lee Is Free" – 3:37
1995 CD reissue bonus tracks
- "Kill Yr. Idols" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 2:51
- "Brother James" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 3:17
- "Early American" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 6:07
- "Shaking Hell (Live)" – 3:15
- Tracks 10–13 originally released on Kill Yr. Idols
Personnel
Sonic Youth- Kim GordonKim GordonKim Althea Gordon is an American musician, vocalist, artist, record producer, video director and actress. She has sung and played bass and guitar in the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, and in Free Kitten with Julia Cafritz...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals - Thurston MooreThurston MooreThurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
– vocals, guitar, bass guitar - Lee RanaldoLee RanaldoLee M. Ranaldo is an American singer, guitarist, writer, record producer, and visual artist, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth...
– guitar and bass guitar, zitherZitherThe zither is a musical string instrument, most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary citera, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures, including China...
on "Inhuman" - Jim SclavunosJim SclavunosJim Sclavunos is an American rock music drummer, percussionist and producer.Sclavunos, a half-Greek and half-Italian from Brooklyn, New York , is well-known for his exceptional height at 6'7". Sclavunos has performed with Sonic Youth, Tav Falco's Panther Burns, Lydia Lunch and was a member of 8...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Bob BertBob BertRobert Bertelli, better known as Bob Bert, is an American rock drummer.Bert is the son of the quarterback Angelo Bertelli. Based in Hoboken, New Jersey, Bert initially came to prominence as drummer for the experimental rock band Sonic Youth during the early to mid-1980s. Bert played on the Sonic...
– drums on "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "Making the Nature Scene"
Technical personnel
- Sonic Youth – producersRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
- Wharton TiersWharton TiersWharton Tiers is an American audio engineer, record producer, drummer and percussionist.- Biography :Diplomed from Villanova University , he moved to New York City in 1976 and was part of the No Wave scene.As an audio engineer and record producer, he has worked on projects such as Sonic Youth,...
– producer, engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including... - John Erskine – assistant engineer