Kim Gordon helped form pioneering noise-rock band Sonic Youth the same year Ronald Reagan took office, though she never wanted to address politics directly in her music. But hey, now Donald Trump is in power. And his chaotic presidency — which we aren’t even 100 days through yet — is causing a lot of people to leave their comfort zones. Thank god Gordon is one of them, because the cathartic track she just released with garage-pop guru Mikal Cronin is a resistance rage anthem we need right now. “War / Golden God” is part of the ongoing music series Our First 100 Days, which has so far seen artists as disparate as PWR BTTM, The Range, and fellow noise-rockers A Place to Bury Strangers drop their own Trump diss tracks. Gordon and Cronin released theirs under the moniker Self Esteem and call it a “demo” so hopefully there’s more to come.
Since Sonic Youth’s dissolution in 2011, Gordon has been busier than ever. In recent years she has dropped a memoir, opened major solo art shows, modeled for Marc Jacobs, and recorded experimental guitar music with Bill Nace as Body/Head. So it’s not like the president gets all the credit for helping her stay motivated.
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Text Hannah Ongley
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