Hold That Tiger, by Sonic Youth

Hold That Tiger

by Sonic Youth

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jbear I've heard and loved several live recordings from each of their many eras: all fall short in sheer punch compared with this night in Chicago on the Sister tour. It's like they're Nirvana or something, only somehow more pregnant with future greatness: what seemed like a quantum leap in the studio between 1987 and 1988 is audibly crackling in the air all around what can only be described as indie rock's "Before The Flood." Then with a few precious minutes they do 1976 for good measure. Favorite track: (I Got A) Catholic Block.

sluggojones This Intense remaster highlights the crowd and band energy combined; like a wild stallion kicking through a sound portal. Highly recommended. Favorite track: Beauty Lies In The Eye.

ksanzel A gorgeous recording of a fantastic performance by a great band.

Aubrey Saoirse Cathodoluminescence thumbnail

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Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.

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1.	Intro 00:45	buy track
2.	Schizophrenia 04:15	buy track
3.	Tom Violence 03:03	buy track
4.	White Kross 03:07	buy track
5.	Kotton Krown 03:57	buy track
6.	Stereo Sanctity 03:35	buy track
7.	Brother James 03:26	buy track
8.	Pipeline/Kill Time 03:08	buy track
9.	(I Got A) Catholic Block 04:22	buy track
10.	Tuff Gnarl 02:50	buy track
11.	Death Valley '69 04:31	buy track
12.	Beauty Lies In The Eye 02:17	buy track
13.	Expressway To Yr. Skull 05:09	buy track
14.	Pacific Coast Highway 04:12	buy track
15.	Loudmouth 03:05	buy track
16.	I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You 01:39	buy track
17.	Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World 02:04	buy track
18.	Beat On The Brat 02:46	buy track

about

In October 1987, four months after the release of their critically acclaimed Sister 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 Hold That Tiger 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).

Hold That Tiger's 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.

Taking nothing away from Sister – inarguably one of indie rock's first true masterpieces – it is reasonable that many fans prefer the live versions heard on Hold That Tiger to their studio counterparts. On HTT, Sonic Youth is a spiky, pummeling and confident force, alternately mammoth and meditative. Sister and its predecessor EVOL 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.

By 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.

Hold That Tiger's 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.

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released March 7, 2025

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Hold That Tiger

by Sonic Youth

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Streaming + Download

$14 USD or more

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$32 USD

Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

$30 USD

Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

$13 USD or more