Sonic Youth completed a phase of their artistic journey with this 1987 album, which is so conventionally melodic at times they can even be heard playing acoustic guitars(!). The opening one-two punch of “Schizophrenia” and “(I Got A) Catholic Block” are some of the most exciting, pathbreaking music of the alternative rock era, the guitars spiraling off in wavering arcs like underpowered rockets. The impact of Steve Shelley’s drumming can’t be overstated; his driving beat on “Pipeline/Kill Time” and the band’s cover of Crime’s “Hot Wire My Heart” gives the band a flood of power while anchoring them to the earth. Even the noisiest tracks (“Pacific Coast Highway,” “Kotton Krown,” “White Kross”) make their connections to psychedelic rock explicit. As a result, they sound like they’re straining against leashes throughout, and the music has a thrilling coiled energy.

– Phil Freeman