Vig quickly landed the producer job for the record. During his first meeting with the group, Vig told the band that he wanted to tighten the song arrangements and focus on crafting the guitar sounds. On the album's sound, Pitchfork would later opine that 'they weren't entirely catering to the new ears Nirvana's success was sending their way', but 'were at least taking it into consideration on a semi-conscious level'. Recording įor Dirty, Sonic Youth worked with producer Butch Vig and mixer Andy Wallace, who both had worked in the same roles on Nirvana's Nevermind, although this was not why the band chose them. In November, they began demoing songs on 8-track at their rehearsal space in Hoboken. The latter tour was chronicled on the documentary 1991: The Year Punk Broke, directed by Dave Markey. On this tour, they premiered 'Orange Rolls, Angel's Spit' and 'Chapel Hill', both of which would later appear on Dirty. Preceding the mainstream breakthrough of alternative rock and grunge, the band toured Europe again in late summer 1991 with Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr, Babes in Toyland and Gumball. To support its release, Sonic Youth toured Europe and North America twice in 1990.

Critical reception to the album was positive. 96 on the Billboard 200 in the United States and charting in the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. In 1990, the band released Goo, which achieved moderate commercial success, peaking at No. However, the band was disappointed when they discovered that the albums would be released on the newly created Geffen sub-label, DGC Records. Sonic Youth eventually signed a five-album deal with Geffen for an estimated $300,000. Between late 1989 and early 1990, Geffen Records announced its interest in signing the band. By the middle of 1989, the top contenders for the band's new label were A&M Records, Atlantic Records and Mute Records. In late 1992, they toured North America, and in early 1993, they toured New Zealand and Australia and released the Whores Moaning EP, which featured most of the 'Sugar Kane' B-sides.īackground Thurston Moore onstage with Sonic Youth in the Netherlands, September 1, 1991įollowing the release of Daydream Nation in 1988, Sonic Youth were interested in signing with a new record label. In support of the album, Sonic Youth embarked on the 'Pretty Fucking Dirty' tour of 19, where they played most of the album during sets. The last two were ' Sugar Kane' and ' Drunken Butterfly', with the former performing better commercially than the latter. The album spawned four singles: the lead single ' 100%' charted well, but was not the crossover hit the label anticipated, followed by ' Youth Against Fascism', which did not chart as well.

Some songs on the album mark the first appearance of three guitars in a few Sonic Youth songs.ĭirty reached number 83 on the US Billboard 200 and number six on the UK Albums Chart. The sound on Dirty was inspired by the popularity of grunge music at the time, and has been described by Billboard magazine as avant-rock. The band recorded and co-produced the album with Butch Vig in early 1992 at the Magic Shop studios. Dirty is the seventh full-length studio album and second double album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on July 21, 1992, by DGC Records.

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