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Noise: Fiction Inspired by Sonic Youth

Peter Wild
Harper Perennial (2009)
ISBN 9780061669293
Reviewed by Rachel Riebeling Durfor for RebeccasReads (3/09)

If you’ve ever listened to Sonic Youth before, you’d understand the plethora of adjectives that come to mind when attempting to describe their sound: unusual, surprising, versatile, puzzling, experimental.  Those just came right off the top of my head, but if I were looking for one word to accurately capture the essence of Sonic Youth, it would have to be “Noise,” which is, incidentally, the perfect title for this collection of short stories inspired by the band.

Any of the abovementioned terms would also do well to describe the stories found in this anthology, which is one of the reasons it’s been a little difficult to review. Some of the stories within definitely lay claim to the puzzling aspect of the collection, while others project their meaning with palpable clarity.  I found the entire collection to be a little experimental, almost avant-garde, another term that is often associated with Sonic Youth.

I enjoyed the stories within immensely (though some more than others), including the extreme diversity of the writing styles and subject matters.  Of course, you could never accuse Sonic Youth of being derivative, and like the stories in “Noise,” their songs and albums differ greatly.  Sonic Youth are constantly reinventing themselves, and “Noise” effectively exudes the sensations that they have managed to inspire in fans for more than a quarter of a century.

I’ve noticed that the editor of “Noise,” Peter Wild, is also responsible for “Perverted by Language: Fiction inspired by The Fall,” and “Paint a Vulgar Picture: Fiction inspired by The Smiths.”  I think it’s a fascinating concept he’s employing, and I must say that in musical taste, I’ve found an affinity with Peter Wild.

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