The godfathers of guitar abuse, arty noise punk rock and alternative tunings. Formed in 1981 and still going, responsible for such classic art punk rock albums as Daydream Nation and Dirty. Interesting Stuff: In spring 1999 the band had a van full of equipment stolen. A problem for most bands, but a massive problem for Sonic Youth, whose equipment happened to consist of about 20 years worth of heavily customised and detuned guitars, which were irreplaceable and meant that some songs in their armoury would be nigh on impossible to play again.
