C/D: Sonic Youth - Washing Machine

Also, I've always loved the amazing "meta" uber-reflexive cover featuring pimply Lollapalooza teens wearing SY "washing machine" t-shirts.

Where is the love for the title track on Washing Machine? "Honey, here's a quarter. Go put it in the washing machine."
And then I looked up at her...I looked up...

i love love love that album unreservedly... washing machine is great though, especially the longer tracks, and the guitars on 'unwind'

I've always liked that the shirts were autographed by Thalia and Chris from Come.

I like the album enough, but don't include me as a "Diamond Sea" fan. I saw them perform it live at Lollapalooza that year, and was blown away by it, but the recorded version just did not get a decent transition from noise to Thurston's vocal return at all. And the vocal melody is "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by the Beach Boys, which is a much better song.

fuckin classic.

saucer like is almost perfect one of my favorite lee tracks (which i tend to favor in general)

I'll stand up for EJTSN, but not this am....maybe i'll try and write up an essay while im an invalid next week.

It's so crazy.

Yup, a double vinyl record. I don't know if it was ever actually released on vinyl in the US, though, as I bought my copy in the fall of '95, and it was on Geffen/BMG UK.

YES. Except I'd say it ascends, not descends; whatever; anyway "gorgeous" is right.

has a great shangri-la's like track w/kelly deal from the breeders.

It's Kim Deal on "Little Trouble Girl," not Kelley; important to note as it constitutes yet more evidence for Kim D's rulingness.

Alfred, which do you prefer, Washing Machine or Experimental Jet Set?

In fact, by the time I was driving into New York City to see that girl who had been writing me the letters, it was "Diamond Sea" that was on my tape deck that night as I came around that curve on the NJ Turnpike and saw the Manhattan skyline for the first time.

*sputters*

Either way, Washing Machine is the last Sonic Youth record that I really listened to over and over, unlike the albums that came after which I have given only a few listens then put on the shelf.

I still have never picked up the last one.

Hear, hear!

And I have to jump in on the EJSTANS argument: my favorite SY album, and one of my favorite albums, period. I don't know if that says anything about its objective quality, but I know that I love it.

And I know that you are WRONG if you do not also love it. WRONG.

anyways, CLASSIC. better than Daydream! as good as Sister or EVOL!

then the dramatic slide into the most severe mediocrity imaginable with A Thousand Leaves. they ain't come up since.

If you want to avoid the boring peg you have abandon SY entirely. The 80s stuff isn't as boring as the 00s stuff but its also 20 years old, so the boringness evens out.

you're lonely.

i'm not sure why i even posted, rssvldonalds and sleeve already said everything i had to say. DITTO'D

I'm a big Eric's Trip fan.

well, I bought Goo this past summer and fell in love with it-- and then they came out with a deluxe version two months later. so, now i want to pick up Washing Machine, but if they're going to do a deluxe version, I might as well just wait until that comes out... yafeelme?

K!z!K:
It is 8pm here on KUCI 88.9fM in Irvine...
Voice:
It's 8pm...

K!z!K:
Pacific time of course! And we're on the phone right now with Mark Hosler of Negativland, so, say hi.

Voice:
[Gurgling] "GGGH-GHGGHG-GGHGHGHHG-GHGHHGHGHG_GGHGMmmm..... GGHGHGGHGG- GHGHGHGHHG-GHGHG-GHGHGmmmm"

K!z!K:
[laugh] Well, there you go... well, anyway, you released the Fair Use book about a few months ago, and it ended on a somewhat positive note. You reached an out-of-court settlement with SST. Island records and affiliates finally agreed to give permission for the re-release of the U2 single, provided of course that Casey Kasem give permission. So that only leaves that one obstacle...the "Casey" barrier... I wanted to ask how far you've gotten along in tackling that barrier, and in perhaps convincing Casey to finally give the OK.

Voice:
[Gurgling] "GHGHGHG-GGGHGHGHGHG_GHGHG GOOOHHGmOGHGGHM GGGANNSWERR GU GGHGAT GGGESTIONGGh.... GHIM GNONT GGHGMARGHGK GHGOOSLEGLER... GHGHI GGHAAM GNOT.....[in background] he wants to know about...U2"

Mark Hosler:
Hi.

K!z!K:
[laugh] Did you hear my question?

MH:
No, I didn't hear your question. They...they wouldn't let me use the phone. Someone else had the telephone, and I just...[LOUD BANG AND CRASH] ...got it from him. That was, man... [LOUD TONE PITCH BENDING].... wait a minute... you're going to have to repeat that question. Real sorry.

K!z!K:
[laughing] No problem! The question was this: Fair Use was released about a few... well, almost a year ago...

MH:
See, now everyone here is talking while you're talking...[CRASHING SOUND]...and I can't hear...the question.

K!z!K:
Well, OK, then...now can you hear me? Am I coming through clear?

Voice [background]: I was not talking!

MH [to Voice in background]: Will you shut up? [SCREECH AND ANOTHER LOUD BANG] I'm trying to talk on the RADIO... in Southern California after a lame Sonic Youth song. [to K!z!K] OK, go ahead.

LIstening to this again now after perhaps a decade. No Queen Blues is great. Actually, the whole thing is very good.

this one = good.

A Thousand Leaves = much, much, much better.

title track = awez

This is perhaps my favourite Sonic Youth album. It certainly was a few years ago, though Daydream Nation may edge it now, since I've become a lot more familiar with that album in the last year or so.

It's the only one since Sister that I really like much.

now i want to pick up Washing Machine, but if they're going to do a deluxe version, I might as well just wait until that comes out

i doubt that this will ever happen

I've never actually heard this album but I've played "The Diamond Sea" more than any other Sonic Youth track.

Then you should probably check this out...

I think this is one of their best, still a rewarding listen. A Thousand Leaves is similar and fine but a bit more on the SYR side...

My least fave SY album.

Love "Unwind" and "The Diamond Sea," can't remember anything else.

'Little Trouble Girl' turned me off Sonic Youth for YEARS. It took a chance encounter with EVOL to change my mind about them.

And the vocal melody is "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by the Beach Boys, which is a much better song.

I'm trying to work out what Vic meant by this. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" is definitely more sophisticated in terms of melody-writing craft but I don't see a strong similarity with the melody of "The Diamond Sea". Nor would it have occurred to me that SY was attempting that kind of songwriting with this song.

This was my favourite album in high school. I still really like "The Diamond Sea", as basic as its melodies are.

This is one of my favorite SY records. Probably my most favorite.

Actually, this thread made me take it off my shelf. Now listening. This a great record. That guitarlead in the beginning of Saucer-like is a total hommage to the guitar lead of The Byrds' 8 Miles High.

KILL YOURSELF NYC DOUCHEBAG

haha Ø_Ø man "the diamond sea" is probably my favorite sy track

I'm trying to work out what Vic meant by this. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" is definitely more sophisticated in terms of melody-writing craft but I don't see a strong similarity with the melody of "The Diamond Sea".

I see the similarity, but I wouldn't have thought of it on my own. If you hum the line that goes "Wouldn't it be nice", it sounds very similar to the main melody of "Diamond Sea."

Get it on vinyl. Out of this world.

I think the little bluesy part of Washing Machine (where Kim does her monologue and says the title phrase) was one of those little oases of (mostly unfulfilled) hope scattered among the albums from this period...

ohhh man the part where shes like "i looked up at her" and then *guitars*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqfiLORd6_g

title track is such pure unadulerated goodness

sonic youth i think have the highest good music to good vocals ratio of any band. which is to say that sure they can play a guitar, but goddamnit mothafuckas can't sing for shit. actually this is like, a really difficult thing for me to get past and always makes me hesitate before putting a sy record on.

love this record -- why don't they play this stuff live anymore?

the vocal distortion/effects on most of the songs on Washing Machine bother me more than the vocals themselves. it ain't bad, but WM is ultimately probably my least favorite of their 90s albums, and I don't dig "The Diamond Sea" nearly as much as other people.

Wow, that Washing Machine video is just about perfect, and basically eliminates the need for anyone to buy the album. Diamond Sea is indeed oddly overrated.

This is why I rate "The Diamond Sea":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW22NBmZJLo

i rate the tightened up 'single version' over the album version too

really it just bugs me that they have at least a dozen 7-10 minute songs with long instrumental sections that are really tightly structred and well written, but the 20-minute song that's 75% aimless and kinda boring can handily win a poll like this: IT'S THE SONIC YOUTH EPICS POLL

I'd never call "The Diamond Sea" boring. Aimless, yeah.

it ain't bad, but WM is ultimately probably my least favorite of their 90s albums, and I don't dig "The Diamond Sea" nearly as much as other people.

wow really? i feel that way about all other 90s sy like yah this is ok but not something id reach for. except their simpsons appearance and "youth against fascism" fukken love those

"unwind" kills too btw

Does "rate" mean good or bad? Wow, I can't imagine anyone who doesn't know the band watching more than about 30s. of that video. I sat through it just in case the studio caught fire at the end or something, but no such luck.

"rate" = "good"

That performance was the first time I'd heard the song; even with the out-of-tuneness all over the place it instantly struck me as something special.

depends on what you're into, but I love every minute of "Diamond Sea" ... and I love the extended version that came out a few years ago even more!

good live version iirc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whW7oVPcCYo

the other 90s albums all have songs that are perennial favorites for, but how much I like "Skip Tracer" or "Washing Machine" or "Unwind" tends to fluctuate over time. xpost

Sold my double vinyl of this on eBay last year. Absolutely pristine. Suspect I never did make it through to side three, but felt absolutely no inclination to slip it on when I was grading it.

Didn't net me much more than it cost when it came out, so if you're looking for a copy, might not be so hard to find.

ha thurston's vox are so bad on dan's clip

i like the diamond sea (and washing machine) a lot

Sold my double vinyl of this on eBay last year. Absolutely pristine.

I may have bought this from you!

the diamond sea is very ver good but not much else on this record really catches me (maybe unwind)

For the longest time I thought Diamond Sea was great, but lacked a proper conclusion...then I finally heard the full version on "The Destroyed Room", which I found entirely satisfying.

Sparkle, if you have my copy, I wish you joy of it, but for me it was goodbye to SY.

I think I paid $40 for it. Sound right? Anyway, well worth it to me, I love the record.

this is such a great album, haven't heard it in years

Oh yeah man, it is great. "Saucer-Like", the title track, and "Unwind" are all great, along with obvious big numbers from the album. Just some beautiful guitar tones all over this thing.

just had a weird moment of frission....when at the end of "Skip Tracer" he keeps saying "Hello 2015!" haha...and I suppose at the time that felt like such a long time in the future ...damn....

such a low-key album

Yeah, definitely have been into that period of the band recently, this leading into "A Thousand Leaves" (which I did not love at the time but have gotten way into the last few years) and the three records that follow it are all great in my opinion. I wonder what Lee's deal is with listing out dates/years in songs. For some reason it hits super-hard as a lyric for me despite being pretty abstract (the other notable moment being "Hey Joni" on Daydream). But yeah, here we are ....

Against all likelihood I sure would like to think that SY will make another record some day. I would think that with the break and bad shit that happened it may actually fuel a really interesting return/reboot of the band, but I am not sure it would make any sense for Kim to do it. Also, they owe me nothing, I have seen them live so many times and have found very few diminishing returns from the catalogue overall, so I have plenty to return to.

love this record, grandavis otm

that gtr solo after Kim says "and I looked up" in the title track... something about it hits me just right, my favorite SY solo

totally. that part was so good live too (at least in my memory of that tour). mindsplitting.
i might be a little surprised if SY made another album, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they played shows in the future. have they ever officially said "we're broken up"?

Yeah man the title track really has some just great moments in it, but I completely hear you on that one in re the solo at that point.

I mean, SY kind of spoiled me in that I want moments like this from most bands, and most do not deliver. A brief set of them: Lee's solo in "Pacific Coast Highway", the totally bitching screaming note that precedes the second "freak out" in "Theresa's Sound World", the whold instrumental outro of "Rain On Tin", etc. etc. etc. I can tolerate all of the dismissive "screw that band" comments about SY (don't like Kim's vocals, they are pretentious NYC dorks, they are boring) cause I just point to those things and say "other bands do not provide payoffs like this". Pretty much the only reason I post about music online, or what got me started and eventually led to me finding ILM, was getting angry at a Stylus piece by Ian Mathers in which he tried to make the case "I don't care what people say, I am done pretending to like 'Daydream Nation' just cause I am supposed to, it is dull/boring". I mean, fine, but dude was slinging Mogwai or something and it is just like fuck give me "Cross the Breeze" alone over the whole catalog of most bands.

that gtr solo after Kim says "and I looked up" in the title track... something about it hits me just right, my favorite SY solo

― polyamanita (sleeve), Wednesday, June 25, 2014 10:38 AM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^^^^^^!!!!

This is my favorite Sonic Youth album. Top to bottom, perfect. Maybe not their "best" (that'd be Sister, I think) but definitely one of my favorite albums by anyone ever.

Sonic Youth live from 1997-2004/5 was so good. All the songs from those albums translated well live, and they seemed really into playing them. So glad I went to every show I could get to during those tours.

Fuck, I gotta get a new copy of "Washing Machine", I have no idea where my copy of this is.

haha, me too! could probably get a CD used for under a buck i bet.
and yeah i agree w/ what you said about payoff--they were almost always just a great rock band.
coincidentally, i'm seeing thurston tonight in boulder! he's doing some kinda thing w/ anne waldman.

Is it just a poetry/reading thing or is he playing too?

Haven't heard it in 10 years but yeah it's probably my favorite of theirs. I'm happy to see that it seems to have been canonized by now. The title track captures so well the feel of a very warm and pleasant dream.

xp - i think it's some kinda music/poetry action. should i yell out for "teenage riot" or not?

Nah, you should ask him what he thinks of Body/Head and whether SY is ever going to get back together.

it is a taping for a radio show, i almost wouldn't be surprised if the host dude (who can be a bumbler) asks something along those lines.

Will try to listen to that radio show if it airs online.

I loved this album when it came out. Listening to it again now, I'm not crazy about it, mainly due to the lack of bass - it sounds too thin and brittle. Still some classic SY songs on here though - Diamond Sea, Little Trouble Girl, Unwind, and Skip Tracer in particular.

not sure if it's my setup, but this record seems to lack a lot of bottom-end frequencies... bass feels a bit petrified, brittle. have always loved the album, however. even "pantie lies"

edit: wow, posted the same time as Immediate Follower...

It's the first album where Kim mostly plays guitar but they don't have a bass replacement so a lot of the songs just don't have bass.

Was this the record where Kim switched to playing guitar? She should have played through a bass amp.

Lol, NA on some preemptive mind-meld shit today.

For some reason the lack of bass never bothers me, it just has a different sound (and I get to bask in the glow of the guitars that much more).

lol i was starting to wonder if this thread revealed that Jersey Al had NA killfiled

beginning of proper dreamy shimmering guitars era sy. the WM solo is my favourite sy moment I think

beginning of proper dreamy shimmering guitars era sy

I feel like they got much better at this style later with e.g. "Free City Rhymes" or "Rain on Tin". The first and last tracks are awesome, though.

Well, and with Murray/Nurse more generally. Adding O'Rourke on bass helped a lot imo.

latter part of the title track was what won me over, and it's all the more rewarding after the difficult first half. I've always held the album in high regard for its production quality (heavy, crisp, spacious), and have only recently noticed the lack of low end. compared to Exp Jet Set, it's a little thin sounding. WM was the last really muscular-sounding SY album for me, until maybe Sonic Nurse, which has that soft-edged, Jim O'Rourke sheen.. is that a piano on the latter part of "the dripping dream"? wtf.

to call A Thousand Leaves a "better realized" album seems dubious, ATL feels very demo-ish and sketchy in comparison, which also makes it great.

I think they had kind of exhausted the "muscular" side of the band on "Dirty", and had probably gotten sick of the general rock action of the mid-90's, so the move to more expansive, loosely structured songs was really refreshing to me and a good move for the band in my opinion. I mean, I cherish those records now, cause there is so much cool playing amidst the spaces of the songs. I maybe like "Murray Street" the most out of that run/style, but I think "Washing Machine" has a more distinct overall feel of an album, in that it feels like a band really hitting on something and going with it for the lenght of the record. Both "Dirty" and certainly "Experimental ...." were a little bloated and all over the place, which made for plenty of cool songs but not great album-as-album listens for me.

here's mr. moore last night in boulder
http://photos-g.ak.instagram.com/hphotos-ak-xpa1/10448918_778698632150566_45093503_n.jpg
a few solo songs, an anne waldman poetry/music thing, and then, most bizarrely, a concluding jam (with a band called the greyhounds who were also on the bill) on Nilsson's "Jump Into The Fire." it was fun. thurst is actually in boulder all summer apparently, teaching something about Burroughs at Naropa. i think i need to find out what bar he's hanging out in.

Sounds like an alright night. But yeah you should track him down, maybe you can get him to jam with Forces At Work.

I'm sure all the available weed in Boulder probably swayed his decision to summer there.

no idea what you're talking about
http://photos-b.ak.instagram.com/hphotos-ak-xpf1/10388051_737073713020801_451066444_n.jpg
[across the street from the venue last night]

Did anyone go to this last night?
http://www.strandbooks.com/event/raymond-pettibon-kim-gordon

If I saw Thurston with an iPuff my enthusiasm for SY would wane a little I must admit.

yes but it's called THE VILLAGE GREEN SOCIETY, that's gotta count for something

all the different varieties.
but yeah those ipuff things seem to be popular. kids these days, back in my day etc.

http://instagram.com/p/pr32o_uT9L/

I think, having been a band for over 10 years at that point, the direction they went in with Washing Machine and then 1000 Leaves was pretty much the only one they could have gone. Release endless versions of Dirty by the mid late 90s? Go back to the Evol/Sister sound?. They had done that.

funny that people consider Washing Machine as the point where they turned into noodly free-jammers. For me WM is a transition point between these two phases. There are still quite a few Alterna Nation relics on it (eg. Little Trouble Girl, No Queen Blues, even Pantie Lies)

Yeah No Queen Blues and Pantie Lies sound like they belong on EJSTANS

Hello 2015!

crazy

this record is so skinny

really a whole gnarly ball of psychopathology and primitive interpersonal relationship dynamics tho huh, when was coco born

While some of the earlier albums maybe seem a little less consistently-great to me than they once did, my feelings about Washing Machine basically haven't changed since I first heard it: it's got, like, no spark, man. It's okay but it sounds like a contractual obligation, 'Compilation Blues' fleshed out to album length. Probably my least favorite SY album, truth be told.

I remember seeing them in a club soon after this record came out; getting crushed against the front of the stage at a random/unexpected moment; and saying afterward to a friend -- "Did a memo go out saying all the kids are supposed to go nuts when they play, like, 'Skip Tracer'?"

Not the best Sonic Youth album, but my favorite

definitely one of my favourites, for the title track and diamond sea alone

I saw Sonic Youth four times, three times were fairly average but the show in support of this LP was absolutely fantastic. Opened with Teenage Riot and closed with long version of The Diamond Sea.

Yeah No Queen Blues and Pantie Lies sound like they belong on EJSTANS

― Immediate Follower (NA)

take these out and this is a perfect record imo.

I loved Washing Machine when it came out and I love it now, and that's probably down to being 18 and seeing the band play almost the whole album lives around that time. But yeah, it retrospect, it could've lost maybe 2-3 songs and been even better. (Short version: NA OTM)

My favorite too, though I have listened to it pretty sparingly in recent years compared to, say, Goo or even Experimental Jet Set, for the spry SY. Washing Machine has such a lovely dankness, though (...maybe not quite in the sense people meant "dank" at the time, thinking back to college).

I suspect there's a different track order that would make this album hold together better, but I haven't bothered to try.

How can you dislike an album that has Little Trouble Girl and Diamond Sea on it ???

tbh I played it this morning and my 4yo stuck her fingers in her ears, shouted "I hate this music!" and demanded I put t Madness on

Saw them live the first time on this tour and Diamond Sea split my skull open and upgraded my hardware

FTR, I don't dislike the album. I just find it...boring? rote? compared to most of the rest of their discography. NYC Ghosts is the only other one I can think of that I'm nearly as 'meh' about.

One thing I will say for this album is it has a great cover.

I feel like the Washing Machine/A Thousand Leaves/SYR1-2 era might be my favorite Sonic Youth

I think it was after A Thousand Leaves that their gear was stolen which forced them to do a kind of reset, and they managed to make a really great album a couple of years later (Murray Street) but I wonder where they would have gone after A Thousand Leaves if they kept going on that same path.

Prob the SY album I got the most into. A bit uneven, yes (Panty Lines, Little Trouble Girl are to be skipped) but as a transition album it hits a nice equilibrium between the tautness of their previous stuff and the psych indulgences of the latter releases. The solos on the title track in particular are so warm and fuzzy.

Gear theft was after NYC Ghosts, wasn’t it? Or was that the first with the new stuff?

Little Trouble Girl are to be skipped

you're a monster

this is probably, on balance, my fave SY album

Gear theft was after NYC Ghosts, wasn’t it? Or was that the first with the new stuff?

I kinda feel Sonic Nurse is the album they would have done after 1000 Leaves (ie more beautiful noodling) had they not be forced to readjust at that time

Murray Street is the one!

had this convo w/ a friend the other day. much prefer their direct songs and (relative) consonance over their skew-whiff, aimless, atonal meandering. sister takes the cake for me as far as most consistent LP.

me too

Also, I've always loved the amazing "meta" uber-reflexive cover featuring pimply Lollapalooza teens wearing SY "washing machine" t-shirts.

― Jacobo Rock (jacobo rock), Tuesday, December 6, 2005 10:56 PM (thirteen years ago)

RIP

Daniel J. Barrett, 38, died Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at home. He was born in Springfield on November 19, 1980. Dan loved and enjoyed being with his family. Dan had a deep and profound love for his only child, Ashley, he passed on his love of reading to her. Through the years they shared some special times together. He was a loving and caring son to his mother and had a dedicated bond with his brother, Timothy. He loved to cook and was employed at numerous restaurants around Western Massachusetts. Dan moved to the Boston area where he continued his passion for cooking as a chef as well as teaching under privileged youth. Dan's last employment was as an instructor at a Christian School in Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts. Dan also enjoyed reading, playing video games, and telling jokes. Dan loved making other people laugh including impromptu stand up at local clubs. Dan had a great love of writing, he was a prolific and talented writer who received awards for some of his short stories. He loved to play music, especially guitar and bass, he even performed in several local bands. Dan’s personal claim to fame was being featured on Sonic Youth’s album cover Washing Machine. He was an avid sports fan and especially liked the Patriots and Red Sox. He leaves a daughter Ashley Geary of Little Elm, TX, his mother Kim (Leary) Vuelta of Westfield, His brother Timothy Barrett and spouse Janea Barrett of Westfield, his sister Christine (Barrett) Bieda and spouse Nathan Bieda of Chicopee, stepfather Mike Vuelta of Westfield, step brothers Jason Vuelta and companion Samantha Dick of West Southbrook, MA, Corey Vuelta and spouse Natasha Vuelta of Phoenix, AZ, Matt Barth and spouse Laura Barth of Holland, MA, maternal grandmother Joyce(Renaud) Leary of Westfield and his girlfriend Sarah Parker of West Roxbury, MA. Dan was predeceased by his father David Barret and his grandparents James and Eleanor (Sheehan) Barrett and Thomas Joseph Leary. Dan also leaves behind a large family including aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces, and friends in both Western Massachusetts and Boston. The funeral will be held on Wednesday, April 24th at 7 pm from the Firtion-Adams Funeral Service, 76 Broad Street, Westfield, MA. Burial will be private. Calling hours will be held at the funeral home on Wednesday from 4-7 pm before the service. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to a memorial fund for Dan’s daughter Ashely Geary. Donations may be mailed to 1109 Lake Hollow Drive, Little Elm, TX 75068. Firtionadams.com

Published in The Republican on Apr. 23, 2019

Bummer

25 years old. I'll be working but:https://www.brooklynvegan.com/sonic-youth-celebrating-washing-machines-25th-anniversary-w-90s-show-stream-more/

I first saw them on this tour and had a Kiss The Stone bootleg of that German show for years. It is fantastic - Washing Machine and Diamond Sea are astonishing live.

HELLO 2015!!!!!!

that song is so great

the band he talks about is Mecca Normal

I wish they they had included more ‘Skip Tracer’-type stuff on their 90s-and beyond material

I think that it would have opened up that era of the band in terms of bringing back many of those who stopped paying attention after Goo (to me, there’s a direct lineage from a lot of the stuff on Bad Moon Rising and ‘In The Kingdom #19’ to ‘Skip Tracer’)

What do you mean by "'Skip Tracer'-type stuff"? There are still a number of tracks with spoken word over dissonant guitars on those albums, I think?

but not Lee's, I don't think

Title track of "NYC Ghosts and Flowers" is probably the closest.

There is, but I don’t think a lot of that stuff is as interesting in terms of integrating the talking with a pop-rock structure. Skip Tracer is SY doing something interesting within that 3-4 minute side of the band, whereas a lot of the things they were doing at that point were more a case of “somewhat conventional rock-pop with noise bit in middle”, or “relatively ambient track with spoken word interlude”

I think a lot of those Geffen albums are really good but I don’t think the marriage of those elements above were that common; if they were, it was more incidental, or a part of something much longer (ie not in a 4 min tune)

Ah, yeah, I see what you mean.