Sonic Youth Recover Stolen Gear, Plan Releases

Zach Vowell reports:
Remember in 1999, when a vanload of Sonic Youth's gear was stolen in southern California?

Well, according to Los Angeles CityBeat, the band is well on its way to recovering all of the precious, custom-modified instruments, amps, and accessories. This summer, a mysterious fan approached the band, claiming a family member was responsible for the theft, and delivered the goods. Hey, maybe they can stop being a hippie jam band now and get back to the rawk. After finishing a busy few months of touring, it would seem that Sonic Youth could once again do great deeds with those noisemaking machines. However, the gear's triumphant homecoming (no doubt heralding many proclamations of "Sonic Youth return to form, for real") may be less anticipated by the time the band gets through with everything planned for the next few months.

http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-10/10.shtml

pretty rad if you ask me. except for the getting stolen in the first place part.

lil_tuffy

MODERATOR

San Francisco, CA

OCT 10, 2005 07:02 PM

and here's a list of all the goods that were originally stolen

http://www.sonicyouth.com/history/equipment/stolen.html

Helly

Australia

December 2004

OCT 10, 2005 07:04 PM

its great they got th gear back!! its crap it was stolen in the first place though

flowerofromance

Chicago, IL

May 2005

OCT 10, 2005 07:11 PM

Of course, Pitchfuck had to be snarky about it, as usual.

I'm glad they got their stuff back, even though they were able to adapt many of their older songs on new instruments. I saw them live last summer, and every song sounded incredible.

TheDishwasher

Frederick, MD

July 2004

OCT 10, 2005 07:25 PM

yay for them... will always have a fondness for sonic youth, they were the first band i saw live

karmatsunami

Cambridge, MA

July 2005

OCT 10, 2005 07:45 PM

I've seen them twice in the last year and a half, and they did not disiapoint either time. With there old gear reclaimed, I look forward to seeing them in the future.

Cheers,
Ché

kungfuelbow

I'm lost

December 2003

OCT 10, 2005 09:58 PM

that is a shit ton of gear.

Postblank

New Brunswick, NJ

June 2004

OCT 11, 2005 08:07 AM

I blame Lou Reed for pretending this happened to the Velvets, thus inspiring copycats.

SnakePlissken

Corvallis, OR

December 2002

OCT 11, 2005 08:11 AM

I'll bet it was Frampton, seeing as they looted his cooler that one time.

adjunct

Philadelphia, PA

July 2002

OCT 11, 2005 08:17 AM

Wasn't Goodbye 20th Century SYR 6?

And who the hell hangs on to hot gear for six years?

Mallory

SUICIDEGIRL

Connecticut, USA

OCT 11, 2005 08:20 AM

thats pretty strange and amazing

PointBlank

New York, NY

November 2004

OCT 11, 2005 08:26 AM

Funny that Pitchfork has to zing the past six years of Sonic Youth as being a "hippy jam band," especially considering that they gave Sonic Nurse an 8.5. And Murray Street a 9.

Pitchfork must love hippy jam bands.

[Edited on Oct 11, 2005 by PointBlank]

KMFCM

Peekskill, NY

September 2002

OCT 11, 2005 10:47 AM

excellent

googused

Portland, OR

OLD SKOOL

OCT 11, 2005 10:53 AM

I wonder if they got some sort of insurance payoff for that stuff that they have to pay back now?

Postblank

New Brunswick, NJ

June 2004

OCT 11, 2005 11:52 AM

PointBlank said:
Funny that Pitchfork has to zing the past six years of Sonic Youth as being a "hippy jam band," especially considering that they gave Sonic Nurse an 8.5. And Murray Street a 9.

Pitchfork must love hippy jam bands.

[Edited on Oct 11, 2005 by PointBlank]

Not liking what you like is a skill handcrafted by indie and Morrissey fans.

Hybrid_Moment

Ireland

October 2005

OCT 11, 2005 05:25 PM

I say, fair play to the guy who had to come fess up that it was someone from thier family who stole the goods in the first place..takes a lot of balls.

flowerofromance

Chicago, IL

May 2005

OCT 11, 2005 08:21 PM

Well, they DID really like the new Sleater-Kinney record.

filtertwister

Los Angeles, CA

April 2004

OCT 12, 2005 01:30 AM

Hurrah! Glad to hear they're re-releasing the Sonic Youth EP also. I saw them a few months after their equipment had been stolen and the only upside performance wise was that it pushed them to play Burning Spear (which I don't think they did much throughout the 90s?)

PointBlank

New York, NY

November 2004

APR 29, 2009 07:38 AM

Another guitar found on eBay!

Kristie

Chicago, IL

December 2004

APR 29, 2009 08:06 AM

Incredible!

Vedere

Italy

April 2006

MAY 01, 2009 09:13 AM

I'm no Thurston Moore and we're no Sonic Youth but had all our stuff go missing (the list wasn't as impressive as that but it did contain a nice rare Rickenbacker and a Hayman from the 70s) only for it all to appear on ebay. A weird chain of events led to the gear being returned and no questions asked!

Squinty

Philadelphia, PA

June 2007

JUL 31, 2009 09:16 AM

PointBlank said:
Another guitar found on eBay!

Lee's Mustang has been returned. :-)

CaptainAmerika

Washington, DC

July 2005

AUG 04, 2009 05:32 AM

That is great news. Lee looks so happy. And hooray internet, without which it seems a lot less likely they would ever have recovered anything.

BOARDS:

TOPICS:

MODERATOR

San Francisco, CA

OCT 10, 2005 06:58 PM

MODERATOR

San Francisco, CA

OCT 10, 2005 07:02 PM

Australia

December 2004

OCT 10, 2005 07:04 PM

Chicago, IL

May 2005

OCT 10, 2005 07:11 PM

Frederick, MD

July 2004

OCT 10, 2005 07:25 PM

Cambridge, MA

July 2005

OCT 10, 2005 07:45 PM

I'm lost

December 2003

OCT 10, 2005 09:58 PM

New Brunswick, NJ

June 2004

OCT 11, 2005 08:07 AM

Corvallis, OR

December 2002

OCT 11, 2005 08:11 AM

Philadelphia, PA

July 2002

OCT 11, 2005 08:17 AM

SUICIDEGIRL

Connecticut, USA

OCT 11, 2005 08:20 AM

New York, NY

November 2004

OCT 11, 2005 08:26 AM

Peekskill, NY

September 2002

OCT 11, 2005 10:47 AM

Portland, OR

OLD SKOOL

OCT 11, 2005 10:53 AM

New Brunswick, NJ

June 2004

OCT 11, 2005 11:52 AM

Ireland

October 2005

OCT 11, 2005 05:25 PM

Chicago, IL

May 2005

OCT 11, 2005 08:21 PM

filtertwister

Los Angeles, CA

April 2004

OCT 12, 2005 01:30 AM

New York, NY

November 2004

APR 29, 2009 07:38 AM

Kristie

Chicago, IL

December 2004

APR 29, 2009 08:06 AM

Italy

April 2006

MAY 01, 2009 09:13 AM

Philadelphia, PA

June 2007

JUL 31, 2009 09:16 AM

Washington, DC

July 2005

AUG 04, 2009 05:32 AM