My original title for this piece was "Rather Ripped Van Winkle," which perpetuated both the dreamy weirdness of that band playing the entire album live while also reinforcing the act of getting blotto'd that informed both the album itself (see Byron Coley liners expose "Silver Rocket," "Devil's Daughter" and "Joni" as hooch slang) and my teen listening habits.
It's a gimmick of course, and it's doubtful McCarren Pool would have been such a sardine can without the premise of recreating something canonical like Daydream Nation. Otherwise, who would go to hear songs from "Rather Ripped"? Seems a shame that Rock the Bells couldn't swing something similar with Public Enemy (reforming that same night on Randall's Island) and arrange for the performance of It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, seeing that Chuck and Flavor Flav were but a few miles north of the Greenpoint Necklace. A friend and I have already decided that this should be the next album re-created live, alongside Drive Like Jehu's Yank Crime and Pharcyde's Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde.
So, was Daydream Nation good, you might ask? Bad? Such distinctions seem wholly irrelevant when discussing something as subjective as Sonic Youth's lexicon, to the point where it is an integral aspect of my musical chemistry. I mean, was puberty good/ bad? Was it Superbad? The only thing I kept wishing for was that Kim would've changed the lyrics to "Eliminator Jr." so that it went: "Take a walk through McCarren Park? SHIT YEAH!"
