Sonic Youth Week – Ciccone Youth

Ciccone Youth was an 80s side project of Sonic Youth, which included all members of SY, plus Mike Watt from Minutemen/Firehose. It mainly served as a vehicle for paying tribute to whatever elements of pop culture the band was obsessed with at the moment – they recorded no less than two Madonna covers and one cover of Robert Palmer hit “Addicted To Love”.

The band’s one and only full-length – “Whitey Album” – came out in 1988 on Blast First label. Trouser Press called it the “most notorious of Sonic Youth’s countless projects” and a “self-indulgent mess”.  All Music Guide was more kind and pointed out that “Although it was only a side project, the intense creativity of this time in Sonic Youth’s career spills out all over this album, making it a rare treat for fans.”
In 2009, the band’s track “Two Cool Rock Chicks Listening To Neu!” was included on a tribute to German band Neu! entitled “Brand Neu!”. Other bands that appeared on a tribute include Oasis, Primal Scream, LCD Soundsystem and Kasabian, among others.
Fun Facts:
Band’s name was referenced numerous time on the song “Master-Dik” from the Sonic Youth album “Sister”. The song features Thurston Moore repeating the line “We’re Ciccone” over and over.
Band Members:
Kim Gordon ( Harry Crews, Mirror/Dash, Sonic Youth, Thurston, Kim And Epic)
Lee Ranaldo ( Four Guitars, Million Dollar Bashers, Plus Instruments, Sonic Youth, Text Of Light)
Mike Watt (Banyan, Bootstrappers, Broke Dick Dog, DOS, fIREHOSE, Funanori, J Mascis + The Fog, Li’l Pit, MinuteFlag, Minutemen, Porno For Pyros,  Reactionaries, Wylde Rattz)
Steve Shelley ( Crucifucks, Male Slut, Million Dollar Bashers, Mosquito, Sonic Youth, Two Dollar Guitar, Wylde Rattz)
Thurston Moore (Backbeat Band, Bark Haze, Ciccone Youth, Diskaholics Anonymous Trio, Four Guitars, Male Slut, MCC / M / M Trio, Mirror / Dash, Northampton Woods, Original Silence, Society Ills, Sonic Youth, Thurston, Kim And Epic, To Live And Shave In L.A., Wylde Rattz)
Discography:
Into The Groove(y) / Burnin’ Up 7″ / 12″ (New Alliance, 1986 / Blast First, 1986)
The Whitey Album CD / LP / 12″ (Blast First, 1988 / Torso, 1988 / Enigma, 1988 / Au Go Go, 1989 / Geffen, 1993 / 2006 / DGC, 1995)
Selected Compilation Tracks:
**** on Devil’s Jukebox (Blast First, 1989)
“Two Cool Rock Chicks Listening To Neu!” on Brand Neu! (Feraltone, 2009)