Howdy! My apologies if you were expecting a "Halloween" article on Halloween. I just wasn't sure I had much to say - it's the first Sonic Youth song without bass? It was supposedly written at the soundcheck of the October 27th, 1984 NYC gig and debuted that night? Early versions contained lines that would later appear in "Secret Girl"? A large gong from Kim's parents' house was used at the end of the studio version, which was recorded in Los Angeles on their first west coast trip in January 1985? Mudhoney covered it on a split single with Sonic Youth doing "Touch Me I'm Sick", and Kim joined them onstage to sing it when the band shared a stage on the Daydream Nation tour? Okay, I suppose I did have a few things to say. Boo!

Instead, we find ourselves looking back at the Goo tour, and specifically the November 3rd, 1990 Irvine, California show. This gig is noteworthy for its appearance on the Dirty Boots CD single, where five songs were used in addition to a radio edit of the title track. "Catholic Block" popped up on a compilation, and of course the entire show was released via nugs (and later bandcamp) in 2019. The full set was actually mixed back in 2005 for potential inclusion on the Goo deluxe edition, but a remix of the 8-track demos took their place. I would strongly recommend reading Aaron Mullan's informative liner notes to the bandcamp release, particularly for some context on hearing them as a fan when they were initially released on the Dirty Boots EP. It was some of the first readily available live Sonic Youth material, and I remember it seeming like a total score when I stumbled across the disc in the mid-90s.

There were just under 3 weeks of shows left after a long summer/fall of Goo support, which included a North American leg in August with STP and Bewitched (replaced by Nirvana on the west coast), a September European run with Teenage Fanclub and Babes in Toyland, and a second North American haul with Redd Kross, Laughing Hyenas, Gumball, the Jesus Lizard, and more. The Goo tunes were heavily broken in by the time of the Irvine gig, and the set list reflects most, but not all, of the staples from that year. While Goo tracks like "Dirty Boots" "Tunic" "Mary-Christ" "Kool Thing" "My Friend Goo" and "Cinderella's Big Score" were played at almost every show, along with "Catholic Block" and "White Kross", other common classics like "Tom Violence" "Stereo Sanctity" and "Flower" took the night off. By this point, new instrumental "The Bedroom" was being aired again, having been premiered in Providence in August. While it made the cut for the Dirty Boots EP, a proper studio recording would not appear until "The Destroyed Room", as a b-side to Youth Against Fascism and Sugar Kane, now with Kim singing.

Other Goo tunes like "Mote" and "Titanium Expose" were played fairly regularly, but not every night - some like "Disappearer" and "Mildred Pierce" only appeared once in a blue moon (or when David Markey needed to film a music video). A tape of noise piece "Scooter & Jinx" was blared during the nightly encore break. This was the first tour where the band really started injecting their sets with "classic" material rather than packing it heavily with the newest tunes, though Irvine is a tad light with only six from Goo (and a brand new tune). It also offers the only known appearance of "I Wanna Be Yr Dog" in 1990, which actually explains why the Goo count is a little low...check out the original set list, courtesy of Alan Harwood:

"Mote" and "Titanium Expose" were apparently cut to make room for the Gumball/Mudhoney-infused jam-along version of the Stooges classic, which I'll admit I'm conflicted about. It's certainly cool to hear a 10+ minute "Be Yr Dog" in perfect soundboard quality, but I think I would trade it for pristine versions of "Mote" and "Titanium Expose", particularly since the latter song has never had an official live version released. But that's just me playing "what if" again, though I do wish they'd drop another show from 1990 since there are so many killer gigs to be found - you can really tell that the crowds are starting to get intense, and the band's energy is unparalleled, burning through the old and new material with equally exciting ferocity.

So, Irvine starts with "White Kross" "Eric's Trip" and "Cinderella's Big Score", all available on the Dirty Boots EP, including an extended chime-tape intro. "White Kross" is positively electric, total sonic slash. Typically it was played as a pair with "Tom Violence" (sometimes TV would open, and WX would close the set), but here it stands on its own (a soundboard Goo tour version of "Tom Violence" would be mightily appreciated though!). "Eric's Trip" and "Mote" were played with equal frequency in 1990, often with "Mote" segueing into "Flower". Here neither appear, but this version of "Eric's Trip" actually makes that distorted wah bass sound pretty cool, though Lee forgets his lyrics left and right (a callback to the famous "I fucked up the words!" version of "Pipeline" on Hold That Tiger, although here he really fucks up the words). "Cinderella" is a monster, with Kim practically growling her vocal. The song was typically a highlight of the Goo shows, and here it is no exception!

The next few songs did not appear on the Dirty Boots single, including a relatively rare 1990 performance of "Kill Yr Idols" (check out a video below, where Lee actually smashes his Kapa Continental during the song!), a not-so-rare "Silver Rocket" introduced as "Waste the Piggies" (with Thurston changing the "J Mascis making out with Edie" lyric to "Mark Arm"), and the original Karen song, "Tunic". Then we're back to the remainder of the songs used on the Dirty Boots single, including the title track itself and "The Bedroom", prefaced by Thurston's remark "What do you do when your mom is a skinhead? You write a song about it.". He dedicates it to Lucifuge, either a reference to the recent Danzig album or its demonic namesake. Tough to say! Though he introduces it as "The Bedroom", it is still listed on set lists as "CAN" up until its last known appearance on November 15th in Charlottesville, Virginia. A demo of the song was released as "Can Song" on the deluxe edition of Goo, which also contained the remixed Irvine take.

Next comes the triple threat of "Catholic Block" "Mary-Christ" and "Kool Thing", played as a trio at almost every single 1990 show. Thurston would often refer to "Mary-Christ" as "part 2" of "Catholic Block". While working on the new material in '89, they would segue from "Mary-Christ" into "Kool Thing", which was hinted at on the album, and fully enacted during all live performances of the two songs (the only asterisk being previously discussed in the "Death Valley '69" entry). Though they close with the triplet here, they would move the cluster all around the set night by night. This version of "Catholic Block" appeared on a 1991 DGC sampler CD called Submerge Yourself In Sound and was later collected on the web-only Mix Tape #3 as well as Rarities 1.

"My Friend Goo" was traditionally the first song of the encore on the Goo tour, featuring Thurston on bass and Kim on guitar. While Thurston commonly had issues getting the rhythm down to start the song, it's Kim who's off beat for the first verse in Irvine, though they get it back together by the chorus. I know members of Gumball and Mudhoney joined for "I Wanna Be Yr Dog" (which Thurston also plays bass on), but I don't know if they contributed to "Goo". This would be the last performance of "Dog" until a similarly guest-driven one-off in Sydney, Australia on January 26th, 1993 (joined again by members of Mudhoney, Nick Cave, Iggy Pop, and others!). After the '93 performance, it popped up only two more times - with Ron Asheton in 2000, and Wolf Eyes in 2004. At the Irvine gig, it dissolves into a sea of noise and chatter from the mini-TVs the band used onstage during this tour. Later that month, the band would continue the "Thurston on bass" theme for the encore, adding rare performances of "Lee #2" and "Inhuman" to follow up "Goo".

I have to admit, I wasn't planning on covering "Catholic Block" immediately after the previous Sister piece, nor were "Mary-Christ" or "Kool Thing" on my radar. However, when I noticed that my bass tab for "Catholic Block" actually had blank tab staffs, I felt deep shame (then I listened closely and remembered why). I knew Lee's part for "Mary-Christ" wasn't represented, and I definitely have a lot to potentially say about "Kool Thing" - plus tying it with the Irvine date as a celebration of Goo, which was so far unacknowledged in this series, seemed like a worthwhile endeavour. So here we are. I plan on looking at a few more Goo era tunes throughout November.

The concept of "(I Got A) Catholic Block" dates back to a June 1983 document from the band's first European tour. A demo of the song was an unexpected bonus track for fans who participated in the "Buy Early Get Now" promo for The Eternal, and also appeared on Rarities 3. This is the only Sister demo of any sort to be released, and it's a wild listen, lasting 6 and a half minutes (though the Rarities version clips 30 seconds off the intro). It was recorded on four-track in the band's Ludlow Street rehearsal space where the "Beauty Lies in the Eye" video was filmed. This instrumental take is relatively faithful to the finished version, with some rough edges, but like many of their demos, it begins a new cycle of improvisation once the core of the song has been played. They sharpened it for the Sister sessions in April '87, and opened with it for the first week of shows discussed in last month's Sister entry ("Schizophrenia" assumed the opening slot after that). It remained a high priority in 1990, played at almost every show, and was given some regular attention in '91 and the west coast Dirty leg in March '93. It got occasional play in '95 and '96, and was shelved until 2003, when they resurrected it with Jim on third guitar, and later Mark on second bass, with about 85 performances between 2003 and 2010. Last I checked, it was the 12th most popular song in their set lists. It was last played on December 30th, 2010 in Manchester, England, along with two songs it shared a tuning with: "Leaky Lifeboat" and "Walkin Blue".

I remember being really excited to find the December 1995 issue of Musician magazine when I was around 13 - it had a cover story on Washing Machine era Sonic Youth, and I was always on the hunt for information as a rabid pre-internet fan. The opening of the article always stuck with me, so I'd like to reproduce it here, as an example of quality writing about the power of the band's music. The rest of the article is great too - many thanks to Mac Randall for his excellent work!

Let's go back to 1987. Sonic Youth's newest album, its second on the SST label, was Sister. Song number two on side one was called "(I Got A) Catholic Block." If you know the song, take a moment to remember the first time you heard it and what it felt like. If you don't know it, read no further. Run immediately to your nearest compact disc emporium and purchase a copy of the splendid DGC reissue, then run back home and slap it on. Make sure you're comfortably seated. Ready?

This is the first sound you should hear: the hum and buzz of electric current, as Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo plug, unplug and replug their cables into their guitars. Once a complete connection is made, the open strings are left ringing for a few seconds. Tuned to some incomprehensible interval, they produce overtones that summon images of windowpanes breaking or funeral bells tolling. Clearly, something very, very scary is about to happen.

And here it comes. Steve Shelley launches an inside-out drum pattern that sounds like the chattering of a haunted assembly line. The song's central riff quickly follows. Menacingly catchy, it's delivered by a clean guitar with plenty of bite. Thurston's voice takes up the theme; his pitch is shaky, his tone a bit bratty, his commitment undeniable. Kim Gordon's bass rumbles in at the same time, heavy and distorted. Although the riff's tonal center is F#, Gordon hangs on a roaring C#, giving the song an ambiguity and tension that isn't relieved for the whole time Thurston sings. After the singing's over, the band pulverizes several more hot riffs in swift succession, ending with a brief breakdown into pure noise. Moore returns to the mike with the immortal words: "I got a Catholic block/Do you like to fuck/I got a Catholic block/I guess I'm out of luck," and the band explodes again. Left behind at the end of this last burst is one rapidly picked guitar, a slide perched beyond its fretboard. Slowly, the slide inches downward as the band comes back in, playing one of the earlier sequences at half-speed. An acoustic guitar moves to the fore; the mood is pensive, unsettled. The song ends abruptly, but the guitars are left to ring once more.

Three minutes and twenty-five seconds is all it takes, 3:25 full of power and invention. The sound is disconcertingly strange yet at the same time familiar; writer Alec Foege has called it "tomorrow's music recorded yesterday." Go back and listen again. There isn't much else to say. This is why Sonic Youth matters.

"Mary-Christ" had the working title of "Animals", and is the first of several multi-vocal tunes on Goo, featuring Kim offering distorted megaphone-style response vocals to Thurston's lead. Though they'd dabbled with shared vocals here and there throughout their career ("I Dreamed I Dream" "Death Valley '69" "Schizophrenia" "Cotton Crown" and "Teenage Riot"), Goo tunes "Mary-Christ" "Titanium Expose" and even "My Friend Goo" have multiple sonic singers, and "sub-producers" J Mascis and Don Fleming add backing vocals to a total of five songs between them, not to mention Chuck D's contribution to "Kool Thing", which we'll get to in a minute. They went back to the group vocal well on NYC Ghosts & Flowers, and really explored it on The Eternal, but Goo was pretty unique in this aspect at the time.

The song was glued to "Kool Thing" until the end of 1991, when it had its final stand at the October 26th, 1991 NYC gig. It was the only song from the August 1991 tour that didn't make the cut for either 1991: The Year Punk Broke or its sister film (This Is Known As) The Blues Scale. It did however, have a music video - along with every other song on Goo. In addition to the singles, which were backed by major label money, the band gave $1500 to a series of directors to make clips for the rest of the tunes for a home video release in 1991. For "Mary-Christ", the director nominated was none other than...Steve Shelley! Using a combination of Super 8 and Pixel Cam (presumably the Fisher-Price PXL2000, which recorded video on an audio cassette tape!), Steve filmed each band member in their home, and combined that with live footage taken by Deb Pastor. The Goo VHS was reissued in its near-entirety (live footage bookending the album was not included) on the Corporate Ghost DVD in 2004. Two commentary tracks are mixed together, one with Lee and Steve, and one with Thurston, Kim, and Steve. (It was also a surprising inclusion on the 2006 compilation Hits Are For Squares, chosen by David Cross. The disc also features "Kool Thing" - Radiohead's selection - but the tracks were not placed together for some reason!)

"Mary-Christ" also has the distinguished honour of being one of very few Sonic Youth tracks to have been performed by a band member after 2011, when Lee joined Yo La Tengo on the 4th night of their eight Hannukah gigs at the Bowery in NYC, on December 25th, 2019. To add recast to rarity, Lee took the lead vocal, with bassist James McNew handling Kim's lines. Though wielding a sunburst Jaguar just like the old days, this time Lee used standard tuning rather than FFCCAA (a very cool Goo era tuning that got remarkably little use). Check it out below!

I've talked about how "Kool Thing" had the working title of "DV 2", a reference to the tuning it shares with "Death Valley '69", F#F#F#F#EB. While a brief hint of the riff was teased at the Chicago '87 show, the first known appearance was actually a Thurston solo performance in mid 1989 (on either the 30th of May, June, or July - details vary!). It was an Ecstatic Peace! evening at the Knitting Factory in NYC, headlined by the Velvet Monkeys, with Thurston doing a short solo set beforehand, playing early, loose instrumental versions of 3 future Goo tunes: "Disappearer" "Titanium Expose" and "Kool Thing". The foundation of "Kool Thing" is basically there, and the demo recorded by the band in November '89 fleshes out the structure and dynamics (of particular note is Kim's awesome bassline). The only thing missing was a vocal in the midsection, which they would solve when recording the final version at Greene Street Studios, where Public Enemy were working on Fear Of A Black Planet down the hall. Chuck D was approached to see if he'd consider lending his voice to the track, building a sort of call-and-response with Kim. Live versions of the song merely featured Kim's spoken inquiries left unanswered.

As the first single from Goo, it carried a lot of weight. It was lyrically inspired by a 1989 interview Kim did with LL Cool J for Spin magazine. As a big fan of his music, she was disappointed to discover he was not exactly her definition of kool. To quote Kim: "'Kool Thing' is really a song making fun of people like Jane Fonda and their infatuation with black radicals in the '60s and '70s. It's also making fun of my own early crush on rappers like LL Cool J." A music video was filmed by Tamra Davis, who would go on to make a number of clips for the band, including "Dirty Boots" "100%" and "Bull in the Heather" (all of which are available on the truly excellent Corporate Ghost DVD). At the label's request, a remix of "Kool Thing" was done by Daddy-O from Stetasonic. Though intended to expand their fanbase even further, the band rejected it immediately, and probably made sure it would never be heard (I'd still be curious!). Yet another promotional avenue for Goo was a flexi 7" (the "Sonic Youth Interview Soundsheet"), where Thurston and Kim describe some of the songs in an esoteric fashion - Kim, using her Winona Ryder voice, has this to say about "Kool Thing": "Lying on my bed, staring at the tapestry on the wall, there are two scantily dressed white girls. One has a dagger in her hand. They're looking at this black panther up in a tree, hissing at them. What is the meaning of this picture? Is it about Patty Hearst and the SLA? What did she fantasize about in that closet? Did she become a member of the SLA because women being outside of the male structured world do make for more natural anarchists? The conclusion: Girls invented punk rock. Not England. Not the United States. Girls."

Like most of the Goo material, the song was premiered on March 8th, 1990 in Washington, DC (preceded of course by "Mary-Christ"), and became a set list fixture for exactly four years, until it was put on the shelf after the March 8th, 1993 Seattle gig (where "Dirty Boots" "Swimsuit Issue" and "Genetic" also died). Of course, "Kool Thing" was just gathering dust, waiting for Jim O'Rourke to come along and free Kim of her bass duties, allowing her to dance around while singing, making the song a nightly highlight of the 2000 tour, given equal opportunity alongside the brand new NYC Ghosts & Flowers material. Now, Kim used the midsection to deliver a different, improvised spiel every night, using the original lyrics as a starting point and then calling out Puff Daddy and Eminem, letting them know that their revolution is a dollar sign, and girl revolution is not dead - but, they can still be friends. It remained a standard set list inclusion through most of 2001, and was played at about half of the shows in 2002 - this time, Kim set her sights on "Sister Mariah" Carey and high CD prices, freestyling her concerns on both topics. By 2003, she'd drafted a whole new song to address her Mariah issues, shifting her (increasingly rare) "Kool Thing" diatribe to target Clear Channel radio. It was played a little more often in 2004, addressing a range of previous topics as well as Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, presidential debates, and more! By 2005 it was being played less than 10 times a year, eventually dropping below 5 times a year, and in 2010 it was played only once: On the last day of the year, December 31st, in London, England. This would be the final performance of the song, along with much of The Eternal and "Brother James".

One of the most noteworthy performances of "Kool Thing" took place on July 10th, 2002 in Hamburg, Germany. The European leg of the Murray Street tour was almost finished, and the band were playing some of their best shows to extremely energetic German audiences. Following a second encore of "Kool Thing", Lee thanked the crowd, and then...they started "Kool Thing" again! This time, when they reached the spoken midsection, they immediately placed their guitars up against their amps and left the stage, letting the wall of sound play itself, Silver Session style, for 7 and a half minutes. This version, separately identified on the set list as "Kool Thing INTO MERZBOW", was a one-time-only idea, which Lee raved about on the alt.music.sonic-youth group: "the second version---cm'on did noone at the gig notice:?---devolved into white noise just before the 'rap' section was to begin. gtrs were immediately leaned on amps and band left stage to huge pulsing din, which remained for 20 minutes or so, while audience screamed, then was confused---loud insane roar going while crew stalked stage tearing down mikes, etc til only the amp sound remained---big droning huzz--audience hooting screams still/blending in w bass loops. wow. incredible. using the 'head' of the song as a l;aunching pad into something completely OTHER. was one of my proudest moments in the band. ---LR"

Back in '98, original site contributor Madsun did a tab for Lee's part on "Catholic Block", and I did a reasonable interpretation of Thurston's part in 2002. I'm not sure when I attempted the bassline, but I do know I never finished it! I've redone everything - it's not perfect, but it should be pretty accurate. For what it's worth, I try to base these tabs off of the album version and use live videos as close to the original era as possible to pin down the fingerings - I know sometimes when they revisited songs after a while, they would change their parts a bit. Kim's bassline is mostly a mystery to me - on the record, she used so much fuzz/wah that it's more like a smear of sound than any defined riff, but I did what I could. Likewise with "Mary-Christ", I'd worked out Thurston's part in 2002 based off earlier work by Alan Coughlan, as well as the bassline, but never touched Lee's part. Watching live videos from 1990 makes it clear that Thurston simplified his riff while singing, where-as Lee's always building on his part, making it a bit wilder. Much of this song is just improvised trem-bar tweaking, so don't get too caught up in specifics.

For "Kool Thing", my 2002 attempt was pretty decent, but not exact - I miscalculated some pretty key notes in both Thurston and Kim's parts, so hopefully that's cleared up now - but again, much of the song just depends on the attack of the strings, and the live versions always stretched out beyond what was captured on the record. If you have any comments or corrections, please let me know!

A SECTION				00:00-00:57

Thurston strikes the open strings after Lee starts shaking his chord:

B-------
E-------
F#--0---
F#--0---
F#--0---
F#--0---

He plays this while he sings:

B-------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#-------------------------------------------------------------/-----/----
F#-------------------------------------------------------------/-----/----
F#-----19---17----------19---17----------19---17--------------15----17----
F#---0--0-0--0-0-0-0--0--0-0--0-0-0-0--0--0-0--0-0-0-0-0-0-0--15----17----

Lee starts with a skronky chord:

A-------
A-------
D--15--- bend and shake w/ trem bar + fingers
D--14---
D--13---  play a chord like this a few times, then release to the open strings
D---0---	

then start the main riff:

A--------------------------------
A-----4---2--------4---2-0-2-2---
D---4---4---4-4--4---4----------- repeat throughout verse
D--------------------------------
D--------------------------------
D--------------------------------

Much of Kim's part is based off of 1987 live versions, when I assume she was still
playing a relatively similar part to the record. I've transcribed the album version
when I could hear it, but she uses so much fuzz/wah that it really becomes this 
buzzing cloud of sound that's hard to pull a note out of. I'm open to suggestions!

Her verse is definitely:

G---------------------------------
D---------------------------------
A--------------------------------- etc
E--9--9---9-12-9--9--9---9-12-9--- 

B SECTION				00:57-01:09

Thurston:
                            "come back to me a while"
B---------------------------------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------------------------------  all of this is trem picked,
F#---10---11----------12----13--19\-----------------------------------     listen for the timing
F#---10---11----------12----13--19\-----------------------------------   
F#----/----/-----------/-----/------------14br---14br---14br----18/---
F#---------/------------------------------14br---14br---14br----18/---
	
Lee:

A---0--2--4--4-4-4-2-2-0--2--4--4-4-4-2-2---------
A---0--2--4--4-4-4-2-2-0--2--4--4-4-4-2-2---------
D---0--2--4--4-4-4-2-2-0--2--4--4-4-4-2-2--10b~~-- hold bend and keep picking  
D---0--2--4--4-4-4-2-2-0--2--4--4-4-4-2-2--10b~~--  over drum break
D-------------------------------------------0-----
D-------------------------------------------0-----

Kim:

G------------------------------------------------------
D--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--- etc
A------------------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------------------

C SECTION				01:09-01:21

Thurston:

B--------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------------------
F#-------------------------------------------------------------
F#------------------------------------------------------------- x 2
F#--0-0-X-X-0-0-X-X-3\5-5-5/3-3--0-0-X-X-0-0-X-X-3\5-5-5\7-7---
F#--0-0-X-X-0-0-X-X-3\5-5-5/3-3--0-0-X-X-0-0-X-X-3\5-5-5\7-7---
	
Lee:

A-----------------------------------------11---
A-----------------------------------------11---
D---11-14--12-11--11-14--12-11---11-11-11------
D---11-14--12-11--11-14--12-11---11-11-11------
D----------------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------

Kim:

G------------------
D--12---12\15-16--- w/ fuzz + wah
A------------------
E------------------

D SECTION				01:21-01:27

Thurston:

B----------------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------------
F#-----------------------------12---14--15--17---19--21\---  trem pick all
F#----/----/---/---/----/---/--12---14--15--17---19--21\---
F#---12---14--15--17---19--20---/----/---/---/----/---/----
F#---12---14--15--17---19--20------------------------------
	
Lee:

A-------------------------
A-------------------------  pick same basic rhythm as thurston
D--4---6--7--9---11--12---
D--4---6--7--9---11--12--- x 2
D--4---6--7--9---11--12---
D-------------------------

Kim:

G------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------7--7-7-7--7-7--7-7-7--- w/ fuzz + wah
A---7--7-7-7--7-7--7-7-7-------------------------
E------------------------------------------------

C SECTION				01:27-01:39

Thurston:

B--------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------------------
F#-------------------------------------------------------------
F#-------------------------------------------------------------
F#--0-0-X-X-0-0-X-X-3\5-5-5/3-3--0-0-X-X-0-0-X-X-3\5-5-5\7-7---
F#--0-0-X-X-0-0-X-X-3\5-5-5/3-3--0-0-X-X-0-0-X-X-3\5-5-5\7-7---

B--------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------------------
F#------------------------------------------------/------------
F#------------------------------------------------/------------
F#--0-0-X-X-0-0-X-X-3\5-5-5/3-3--0-0-X-X-0-0-X-X-20\\\\\\------  slide backwards while picking
F#--0-0-X-X-0-0-X-X-3\5-5-5/3-3--0-0-X-X-0-0-X-X-20\\\\\\------
	
Lee:

A------------------------------(11)-------------- the middle gtr plays the 11th fret on the 
A------------------------------(11)--------------   A strings instead of the end lick sometimes
D---11-14--12-11--11-14--12-11--11-11-11-12-11---
D---11-14--12-11--11-14--12-11--11-11-11-12-11---
D------------------------------------------------
D------------------------------------------------

Kim:

G------------------
D--12---12\15-16--- w/ fuzz + wah
A------------------
E------------------

E SECTION				01:39-02:03

Thurston rhythmically strikes at the open F# strings (with slight palm mute?), adding harsh stings
around the 3rd fret of the middle strings with increasing frequency. Listen for the rhythm.
He is silent when the drums drop out, then comes back for the 2nd verse.
	
Lee starts with a similar rhythm as Thurston, playing open strings (low Ds) then starts
adding higher notes w/ trem bar tweaking:

A---21---
A---20---
D---19---
D--------
D--------
D--------

When the drums stop, the middle guitar keeps squawking away at the high notes, 
while the left guitar does trem bar dives on the low D strings.

Kim plays:

G------------------------------------ w/ HEAVY fuzz + wah 
D------------------------------------
A---7-------7-------7-------7--------
E-----0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0--

I'll be honest, that's based on watching an '87 live version. I can barely discern her part
on the album, there's so much fuzz/wah. It sounds more like a D on the record, but then
Lee's also tuned to a low D sooo....

A SECTION				02:03-02:17

Lee changes his verse riff:

A--------------------------------           ----------------------0-0-0-0-0-2-2-2---
A-----4---2--------4---2-0-2-2--- x 3 then: ----4---2--------4----0-0-0-0-0-2-2-2---
D---4---4---4-4--4---4-----------           --4---4---4-4--4---4--0-0-0-0-0-2-2-2---
D--------------------------------           ----------------------0-0-0-0-0-2-2-2---
D--------------------------------           ----------------------------------------
D--------------------------------           ----------------------------------------

Kim plays the same thing, but when Thurston sings "out of luck" at the end, she switches
to the E at the 7th fret of the A string on the word "luck" and continues into the next section.

D SECTION				02:17-02:44

Thurston:

B------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#------------------------------------------------12---14--15--17---19--20----21--19-21-19-21b--- TREM
F#------------------------------------------------12---14--15--17---19--20----21--19-21-19-21b---  PICK
F#--0---2--3--5---7--8--12---14--15--17---19--20-------------------------------------------------   ALL!
F#--0---2--3--5---7--8--12---14--15--17---19--20-------------------------------------------------

Then he puts a metal slide (or later a drumstick) over the strings above the bridge pickup and 
picks furiously up there until the next section.
	
Lee plays:

A-------------------------
A-------------------------
D--4---6--7--9---11--12---
D--4---6--7--9---11--12--- x 4
D--4---6--7--9---11--12---
D-------------------------

A--------------------------------
A----------------------------0---
D----------------------------0---
D--/----/---/----/-----------0---
D--14--15--17---19/20b~~-----0---  trem pick low notes, bend around 19th/20th fret and hold while picking
D--14--15--17---19/20b~~-----0---    then ring open strings til next section

Kim plays:

G------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------7--7-7-7--7-7--7-7-7--- w/ fuzz + wah
A---7--7-7-7--7-7--7-7-7-------------------------
E------------------------------------------------

I think on live versions she does a big slide up along with everyone else, but
on the record I think she just kinda drops out.

B SECTION				02:44-03:26

Thurston slowly starts bringing the slide back from the bridge area back to the 1st fret, while
still picking, and then ends on the open strings:

B--------
E--------
F#---0---
F#---0---
F#-------
F#-------
	
Lee plays:

A---0--0-2--4--4-4-4-2-2-2---
A---0--0-2--4--4-4-4-2-2-2--- x 8  w/ acoustic guitar doubling
D---0--0-2--4--4-4-4-2-2-2---
D---0--0-2--4--4-4-4-2-2-2---
D----------------------------
D----------------------------

End on open DDAA strings.

Kim plays:

G-------
D---0---  at the start of each of Lee's riffs
A-------
E-------


text + tab by Chris Lawrence

w/ thanx to madsun

A SECTION				00:00-00:08

This first part repeats a few times during the song but it's not always necessary to play
the exact same note, just a wildly bent/barred note around E.

Thurston:

B-------------------
E------------------- the open E string works too
F#------------------
F#------------------  hit that first note w/ crazy whammy bar embellishment
F#--v10~~~~----14/--    (or extreme finger vibrato)
F#------------------

Lee:

A-----------
A-----------
C-----------
C-----------
F---v0~~~--- drop w/ bar + feedback
F---v0~~~---

Kim:

G-------
D-------
A-------
E---0---

Kim uses distortion for her entire part.

B SECTION				00:09-00:25

Thurston:

B-----------------
E-----------------
F#----------------
F#------X-X-X-X---  mutes/harmonics @ 4th fret
F#---4--X-X-X-X---
F#---4--X-X-X-X---

When he sings "skatin' light on ice" he plays:

B------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------
F#-----------------------------------------
F#------X-X-X--------X-X-X-------X-X-X-X---
F#---4--X-X-X-9-11/--X-X-X-9/-4--X-X-X-X---
F#---4--X-X-X-9-11/--X-X-X-9/-4--X-X-X-X---

Lee:

A----------------
A----------------
C---5--X-X-X-X---
C---5--X-X-X-X--- mutes/harmonics @ 5th fret
F---5--X-X-X-X---
F---5--X-X-X-X---

Kim:

G----------8-8---
D---8--X-X-------  she slides up to the 15th fret on the D string when transitioning to the chorus
A----------------
E----------------

C SECTION				00:25-00:30

Thurston:

B-------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------
F#------------------------------------
F#---11-11-11-X-X-X-X--16--11--9--7--- x 2
F#---11-11-11-X-X-X-X--16--11--9--7---
F#---11-11-11-X-X-X-X--16--11--9--7---

Lee:

A---0---
A---0---
C---0--- drop w/ bar + return
C---0---
F---0--- x 2 
F---0---

On live versions he hits 12th fret harmonics after dropping the open strings but
I don't hear that on the record.

Kim:

G---------------15------------
D---15-15-15-------15-13-11--- x 2
A-----------------------------
E-----------------------------

B SECTION				00:31-00:42

C SECTION				00:43-00:47

B SECTION				00:47-00:58

Lee overdubs a guitar over the "angel in a devil skirt" line:

A---\17/---
A---\17/---
C---\17/---
C---\17/---
F---\17/---
F---\17/---

C SECTION				00:47-01:03

A SECTION				01:04-01:09

D SECTION				01:10-01:21

Thurston:

B----------------------
E----------------------
F#--------------------- x 4
F#---4-4-4-4--7-7-9\---
F#---4-4-4-4--7-7-9\---
F#---4-4-4-4--7-7-9\---

Lee:

A------------------
A------------------ 
C-----------1--3---
C-----------1--3--- x 4
F---5--5-5---------
F---5--5-5---------

Kim:

G----------------
D---------------- 
A----------4-6---  x 4
E---6--X-X-------

E SECTION				01:21-01:38

Thurston:

B------------------------v21~~~~~~~~~-------------
E--------------v18~~~~~~~~------------------------  this is approximate at best... 
F#--v20~~~~~~~-----------------------v20~~~~~~~---   he just attacks 4 really high notes
F#------------------------------------------------    while bending the strings wildly
F#------------------------------------------------     and yankin' on the trem bar
F#------------------------------------------------

Then pick a pattern like this w/ whammy bar:

B---v22-22-----22-22------ etc  --22--
E---------v22--------22---      --22-- basically just attacking this chord
F#------------------------      --20--
F#------------------------      ------
F#------------------------      ------
F#------------------------      ------

then:

B-------------------------
E---------------v0-0~~~~-- w/ bar 
F#--v11~~11~~11~~---------
F#------------------------
F#------------------------
F#------------------------

It's not super critical to hit all the exact notes, just the spirit of the whammy bar attack

Lee:

A------------------------------------20----------------------------------\16--18--20--20-18-20~~~--
A---------------------20-20-18-20-18-20b--------11^12-------16~~16~~~----\16--18--20--20-18-20~~~--
C------------------------------------------------------12------------------------------------------
C---20b--r20-17------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F---------------18~~-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A-----------------13----------------------------
A-----------12-------12-----------16-16b~~-15---
C---\\\12~-----12-------12~~--------------------
C------------------------0----------------------
F------------------------0----------------------
F------------------------0----------------------

Like Thurston's part, this is an approximation of a mostly improvised attack on the higher notes.
Lee's part is very choppy and almost like he's trying to choke the notes rather than playing fluidly.
The trem bar is your friend!

(I think this section is supposed to sound like animal noises, but I could be wrong.)

Kim:

G----------------------------------------------------------
D---8--8-8-8--8-6\8-8-11-11-11---8--8-8-8--8-6\8--\15-15---  x 3
A----------------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------------

F SECTION				01:38-01:44

Thurston:

B---------------------
E---(4)---------(4)---	i don't know if he means to hit the E string
F#---4-----X-X-X-4----
F#---4-----X-X-X-4----
F#---4-----X-X-X-4----
F#---4-----X-X-X-4----

Lee:

A-------
A-------
C---5--- x 2
C---5---
F---5---
F---5---

Kim:

G-------
D---8--- x 2
A-------
E-------

G SECTION				01:44-01:56

Thurston:

B--------------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------
F#-------------------------------------------------
F#------------------------------------------------- x 4
F#---11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-16-16-11-11-9-9-7-7---
F#---11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-16-16-11-11-9-9-7-7---

Lee:

A---0---
A---0--- drop w/ bar + return
C---0---
C---0---  x 4
F---0---
F---0---  

Kim:

G--------------------------------------------------------
D---15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15--- etc
A--------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------------

A SECTION				01:56-01:59

B SECTION				01:59-02:09

C SECTION				02:10-02:15

B SECTION				02:16-02:26

C SECTION				02:26-02:35

Thurston and Kim play the last 4 notes of the chorus at half speed.

A SECTION				02:34-03:11

Thurston:

B-------------------------
E-------------------------  for the last chord, basically drop the bar, 
F#------------------------   strike the strings, then raise it back up to F#...
F#----------------v0~~~---
F#---v10~~~~~~~~--v0~~~---     begin palm muted segue to "kool thing"
F#----------------v0~~~---

Lee just shakes the open strings w/ bar + makes animal noises as the "Kool Thing" segue fades out.
Live he would switch guitars during this part to F#F#F#F#EB.

Kim:

G--------------------
D--------------------
A--------------------
E---0---------14-----


text + tab by Chris Lawrence

w/ thanx to alan coughlan

A SECTION				00:00-00:12

Thurston starts with:

B-------------------------------
E-------------------------------
F#------------------------------
F#------------------------------ 
F#--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---
F#--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---  palm mute

Lee plays

B-------------------------------
E-------------------------------
F#--0----------------5b---5-0---
F#--0----------------5b---5-0---
F#--0----------------------(0)--
F#--0----------------------(0)--

Kim plays:

G-----------------------
D-----------------------
A-----------------------
E---2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--- etc

Kim uses distortion for her entire part.

B SECTION				00:12-00:25

Thurston:

B-------------------------------
E-------------------------------
F#------7---7-7---7---7---5br--- bend and return.
F#------7---7-7---7---7---5br--- optional pinch harmonic...
F#--0-0---0-----0---0---0-------
F#--0-0---0-----0---0---0-------
	
Lee plays:

B-------------------------------
E-------------------------------
F#------7---7-7---7---7---5br--- bend and return.
F#------7---7-7---7---7---5br--- optional pinch harmonic...
F#--0-0---0-----0---0---0-------
F#--0-0---0-----0---0---0-------

Kim plays:

G-------------------------
D-------------------------
A----------4--4-4-4-3-3--- slight bend on 3rd fret
E---2-2--2----------------

C SECTION				00:25-00:37

Thurston:

B----------------------------------
E----------------------------------
F#------6-6-6-3--------------------
F#------6-6-6-3--------------------
F#--0-------------3\6-6-6/3-1-1-0--
F#--0-------------3\6-6-6/3-1-1-0--
	
Lee plays:

B--------------------------------
E--------------------------------
F#----------------17---18---19\-- trem pick each note
F#----------------17---18---19\--
F#--0--------------/----/----/---
F#--0----------------------------

Kim plays:

G-----------------------
D-----------------------
A-----------------------
E--2-2-2-2--2\\\\\\9/---  big slide to roughly 9th fret, and slide back to 2nd

B SECTION				00:37-00:50

C SECTION				00:50-01:01

B SECTION				01:01-01:14

C SECTION				01:14-01:26

D SECTION				01:26-02:21

Thurston:

B---------
E---------
F#---0---- drone open strings, pick behind bridge, feedback, etc etc
F#---0----
F#---0----
F#---0----
	
Lee plays:

B---------
E---------
F#---0---- drone open strings, feedback, etc - just make noise in F#!
F#---0----
F#---0----
F#---0----

Kim plays:

G-------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------
A---16/--------------12-14-15-15-15-15-15---
E-------14--14-14-14------------------------

E SECTION				02:21-02:36

On the record, the guitars in this section are almost drowned out by the feedback, but the 
basic idea is to hit the open strings and then play a super skronk chord with bends (or trem bar).

For live versions, they would each just attack a random high skronk chord between the
open strings, the album sticks a little closer to the same notes:

Thurston:

B----------------------------------------------------------------------------
E----------------17--17-17-17-17-17-17---------------18--18-18-18-18-18-18---
F#--0--0--0-0-0--15--15-15-15-15-15-15--0--0--0-0-0--16--16-16-16-16-16-16---
F#--0--0--0-0-0--15--15-15-15-15-15-15--0--0--0-0-0--16--16-16-16-16-16-16---
F#--0--0--0-0-0-------------------------0--0--0-0-0--------------------------
F#--0--0--0-0-0-------------------------0--0--0-0-0--------------------------
	
Lee:

B----------------------------------------------------------------------------
E----------------17--17-17-17-17-17-17---------------18--18-18-18-18-18-18---
F#--0--0--0-0-0--15--15-15-15-15-15-15--0--0--0-0-0--16--16-16-16-16-16-16---
F#--0--0--0-0-0--15--15-15-15-15-15-15--0--0--0-0-0--16--16-16-16-16-16-16---
F#--0--0--0-0-0-------------------------0--0--0-0-0--------------------------
F#--0--0--0-0-0-------------------------0--0--0-0-0--------------------------

Both guitars hang on open noise for a moment before the next section.

Kim:

G--------------------------------------
D--------------------------------------
A----------/17--17-17-17-17-17-17-17---
E--\2-2-2------------------------------

F SECTION				02:37-03:01

Thurston:

B-----------------------------------  
E-----------------------------------    after a few bars, throw in the octaves
F#--7-7-10-0-7-9--8-8-10-0-8-8-10---    on the low F# strings...
F#--7-7-10-0-7-9--8-8-10-0-8-8-10--- 
F#----------------------------------
F#----------------------------------
	
Lee:

B------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#--0---19-19-19--17--17-17-17-17-17-17--0---19-19-19--17--17-17-17-17-17-17---
F#--0----0--0--0--17--17-17-17-17-17-17--0----0--0--0--17--17-17-17-17-17-17---
F#--0----0--0--0-------------------------0----0--0--0--------------------------
F#--0----0--0--0-------------------------0----0--0--0--------------------------

On the demo, he plays something more like:

B---------------
E---19-----20--- violently trem pick each chord while bending
F#--17-----18---
F#--17-----18---  then go down an octave
F#---0------0---
F#---0------0---    exact notes don't really matter each time...

I think by the time they were playing live in 1990 he'd already kinda changed what he does
here, so just get the feel for the attack.

Kim:

G------------------------------------------
D------------------------------------------
A--16/--------------17-17-17-17-17-17-17---
E------14-14-14-14-------------------------

E SECTION				03:01-03:15

B SECTION				03:15-03:27

C SECTION				03:27-03:39

B SECTION				03:39-03:51

C SECTION				03:52-04:06

text + tab by Chris Lawrence