When Things Were Kool

Another dumb quickie.

This also dates back to the same herculean trek around Manhattan from a few weeks back that spawned the photos in this post and that post. I don't have a lot of fond associations with the New York Criminal Court buildings along Center Street, but I can't seem to walk by them without thinking back to the video for "Kool Thing" by Sonic Youth, .... which in itself is odd, as it's never been a particular favorite of mine.

"Kool Thing" found Kim Gordon taking the mic for the first single off of Sonic Youth's indie-heresy-baiting big label debut Goo in 1990. Having been lured in a few years earlier via the pointedly discordant and vaguely disturbing Bad Moon Rising (my freshman year roommate in college had to leave the room whenever I chose to play "Death Valley `69," which, suffice to say, was often), I counted myself as a Sonic Youth fan, but as they gradually edged to the center and away from the purposely weird, I found myself losing enthusiasm.

I actually got to interview the whole band on the eve of Goo's release for a tiny indie record rag I was working for at the time, The New York Review of Records, in the incongruously plush offices of Geffen Records (in a very corporate conference room with a crudite platter). They hadn't quite become an especially big deal (nor had they introduced the wider world to Nirvana as yet), so it didn't seem like that huge an event. As such, they were all perfectly cool and amiable -- apart from Kim, of course. She wasn't unfriendly, per se, but she was a long way from being what you might call chatty. That all said, she seemed to embody everything that was cool about the band. 

Anyway, blah blah blah...ancient history. Goo came out and helped kickstart the "alt.rock" boom of the 90's, I suppose, paving the way for diluted knock-off acts and ersatz grunge-lite records until the resurgence of rinkydink boy-band teen pop put a stop to all that. Seems almost quaint to think about now.

While I didn't think "Kool Thing" was an especially great single at the time (despite a fleeting contribution from Public Enemy's Chuck D.), the video had a suitably artful NYC vibe -- although if memory serves, Kim Gordon's gone on record saying that filming the video in front of the Criminal Court Buildings was one of the most embarrassing experiences of her life....and catered, at that. In retrospect (see below), the clip has held up pretty well. 

Here's our weak homage to same.

 

...and just in case you've forgotten...