SONIC YOUTH : A Thousand Leaves

Here's what I noticed: Only Thurston's songs have those little vocal clicks (the ones you get when you open your mouth to sing or when there's a bit too much saliva running around). I probably noticed, since my ears are so tuned to hearing those sorts of things in the studio, and I started wondering about the aesthetic of the vocal click. Do you leave them in? Do you leave a few in? I mean, it's a natural sound that your mouth makes. Anyway, I asked Lee and Steve about this while I was backstage annoying everyone at a Sonic Youth show, and they started laughing. Apparently they had asked Thurston to erase his clicks, as Lee and Kim had done on their songs, but Thurston didn't want to. So you see, it is an aesthetic decision that has to be made. By the way, the record was recorded and mixed at SY's Echo Cañon with Wharton Tiers. And it's a great record. (Geffen)