EVOL is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth. It was released in May 1986, through SST Records; the band's first release on the label. The album is notable for being the first with new drummer Steve Shelley, replacing Bob Bert, and for showing signs of the band transitioning away from their no wave past and toward a greater alternative rock sensibility. Sonic Youth recorded EVOL at Before Christ with Martin Bisi in Brooklyn, New York and had Mike Watt of the Minutemen play bass on "In the Kingdom #19" and "Bubblegum". The album was later re-issued on 180gram pink vinyl.
Despite not being successful at the time, the album was very well praised by critics later on with Pitchfork saying that EVOL "[was] where the seeds of greatness were sown", " and they placed EVOL thirty-first on their list of the one hundred best albums of the 1980s. and Allmusic said that EVOL is "a stunningly fluent mixture of avant-garde instrumentation and subversions of rock & roll." giving it a score of four and a half. Even Robert Christgau, with whom the band had sparred, gave it a B+.EVOL is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth. It was released in May 1986, through SST Records; the band's first release on the label. The album is notable for being the first with new drummer Steve Shelley, replacing Bob Bert, and for showing signs of the band transitioning away from their no wave past and toward a greater alternative rock sensibility. Sonic Youth recorded EVOL at Before Christ with Martin Bisi in Brooklyn, New York and had Mike Watt of the Minutemen play bass on "In the Kingdom #19" and "Bubblegum". The album was later re-issued on 180gram pink vinyl.
Despite not being successful at the time, the album was very well praised by critics later on with Pitchfork saying that EVOL "[was] where the seeds of greatness were sown", " and they placed EVOL thirty-first on their list of the one hundred best albums of the 1980s. and Allmusic said that EVOL is "a stunningly fluent mixture of avant-garde instrumentation and subversions of rock & roll." giving it a score of four and a half. Even Robert Christgau, with whom the band had sparred, gave it a B+.false2025-11-08 06:00:43EVOL20152015-07-242015-07-2439Alternative RockArt RockExperimental RockIndie RockNo WaveNoise RockRock112711212025172a43307-3399-48e4-a613-a1d1e74d94345cbef01b-cc35-4f52-af7b-d0df0c4f61b977641c44-b2d6-3cfb-a82c-37bbec30abfd/media/data/media5/Music/Sonic Youth/EVOL/folder.jpgSonic YouthSonic YouthSonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the band, while Steve Shelley (drums) followed a series of short-term drummers in 1985, rounding out the core line-up. Jim O'Rourke (bass, keyboards, guitar) was also a member of the band from 1999 to 2005, and Mark Ibold (guitar, bass) was a member from 2006 to 2011.
Sonic Youth emerged from the experimental no wave art and music scene in New York before evolving into a more conventional rock band and becoming a prominent member of the American noise rock scene. Sonic Youth have been praised for having "redefined what rock guitar could do" using a wide variety of unorthodox guitar tunings while preparing guitars with objects like drum sticks and screwdrivers to alter the instruments' timbre. The band was a pivotal influence on the alternative and indie rock movements.
After gaining a large underground following and critical praise through releases with SST Records in the late 1980s, the band experienced mainstream success throughout the 1990s and 2000s after signing to major label DGC in 1990 and headlining the 1995 Lollapalooza festival. In 2011, following the separation and subsequent divorce of Gordon and Moore, the band played their final shows in Brazil. Since the split, the members have said the band is finished and would not reunite.