{"product_id":"hold-that-tiger","title":"Hold That Tiger","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn October 1987, four months after the release of their critically acclaimed \u003ci\u003eSister\u003c\/i\u003e LP, Sonic Youth showcased their latest work in a blistering set at Cabaret Metro, Chicago. The concert was introduced by Big Black’s Steve Albini (who at the time was banned from the venue) and subsequently released as a semi-official bootleg under the title \u003ci\u003eHold That Tiger\u003c\/i\u003e on writer\/provocateur Byron Coley’s impishly Geffen-baiting label Goofin’ (years later the band would use this nom de guerre for their own imprint).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eHold That Tiger’s\u003c\/i\u003e sterling reputation among the Sonic Youth faithful is well deserved. In fact, it isn’t a stretch to suggest that the album is to the first handful of SY releases what It’s Alive is to the first three Ramones LPs—a feral and liberatory public snapshot of a band’s blossoming imperial phase. Indeed, HTT is the sound of a group at the peak of their powers, presenting new songs alongside a handful of older ones with the kind of wild, cathartic enthusiasm common to rock ’n’ roll’s most revered live albums.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTaking nothing away from \u003ci\u003eSister\u003c\/i\u003e—inarguably one of indie rock’s first true masterpieces—it is reasonable that many fans prefer the live versions heard on\u003ci\u003e Hold That Tiger\u003c\/i\u003e to their studio counterparts. On HTT, Sonic Youth is a spiky, pummeling and confident force, alternately mammoth and meditative. Sister and its predecessor \u003ci\u003eEVOL\u003c\/i\u003e notably added an airy, dreamlike reverie to the band’s turbulent doom-lurch, a stylistic evolution that seems to crystallize on HTT. Throughout, Kim Gordon’s sinewy, sumptuous bass and Steve Shelley’s propulsive, tom-heavy percussion provide the bedrock groove for Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo’s ferocious barrages of noise-guitar crunch.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy 1987, the band was confidently articulating their dual lexicon of punk-noir dissonance and supernal, psychedelic sonic calligraphy—bending their jagged, streetwise gnarl into balloon animals of dazzling and beautiful songs. This collision of splendor and chaos would become a hallmark of the group’s singular alchemy as well as provide a blueprint for the post-SST American underground they would help invent and ultimately nurture.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eHold That Tiger’s\u003c\/i\u003e encore—four songs by the band’s beloved Ramones, which Thurston would later astutely compare to “the perfect pudding after a hearty meal”—serves as a reminder that, like any true punks, Sonic Youth never could resist a good, rousing anthem to send the kids home with their ears ringing, their hearts hot-wired. This first-time reissue comes with gatefold jacket. Mastered by Bob Weston from the orginal tapes. Recorded by Aadam Jacobs. Audio repair\/editing by Aaron Mullan.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Superior Viaduct","offers":[{"title":"Black LPx2","offer_id":50881528136011,"sku":"2233870","price":44.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Blue LPx2","offer_id":50881528267083,"sku":"2233872","price":47.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50878365073739,"sku":"2233867","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/8b1cfc51-1ac8-21d9-3988-1d70880ad983_6c2099d3_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1732312074","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/products\/hold-that-tiger","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}