History YMMV / SonicYouth

* SongAssociation: Their cover of the Delaney & Bonnie song "Superstar" [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny became unintentionally funny]] [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff in Brazil]] due to its strong usage in Portuguese-language [[YouTubePoop YouTube poops]], usually in "sad" moments.

* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: Not as much as some rock bands, but an awful lot of listeners have reported having difficulty comprehending ''Music/DaydreamNation'' on their first several listens to it - its length and the abrasiveness of many of its songs probably don't help on this count. Newcomers often find their earlier works ''EVOL'' and ''Sister'' somewhat less impenetrable, though, and later works like ''Washing Machine'' and ''Murray Street'' are also often more easily comprehensible. On the other hand, ''Daydream Nation'' is almost universally considered their best album, which circles back to this trope again.

* TheScrappy: Thurston has garnered this reputation as of late, owing to his pretentious, arrogant demeanor along with him cheating on Kim, causing both their divorce and the band itself to break-up.

* SongAssociation: Their cover of the Delaney & Bonnie song "Superstar" [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny became unintentionally funny]] [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff in Brazil]] due to its strong usage in Portuguese-language [[WebAnimation/YouTubePoop YouTube poops]], usually in "sad" moments.

* ArchivePanic: What else'd ya expect?

* VindicatedByHistory: Though ''NYC Ghosts & Flowers'' is still [[BrokenBase the most divisive of their albums]], it's been much more warmly received in retrospect than when it was first released. The Pitchfork reviewer who [[EightPointEight gave it a 0/10]] later completely flipped his opinion, stating that he loves the album.

** The video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reSOp1domrU "Tunic (Song for Karen)"]] is unsettling, especially when you know exactly [[AuthorExistenceFailure what]] [[WeightWoe happened]] to [[Music/{{Carpenters}} Karen Carpenter]].

* TheScrappy: Thurston has garnered this reputation as of late, owing to his pretentious, arrogant demeanor along with him [[YourCheatingHeart cheating on Kim]], causing both their divorce and the band itself to break-up.

*** Mike Watt apparently has a very terse, idiosyncratic way of starting an answering machine message: where most people would say something like "Hi Thurston, this is Mike...", he instead simply shouts "Thurston! Watt! Thurston!".

** Eva Prinz, as seen in YokoOhNo.

* YokoOhNo: Defiantly averted by Kim throughout the band's career, but played straight with Eva Prinz, Thurston's mistress who also strung along Jim O'Rourke before getting with Thurston.

* VindicatedByHistory: Though NYC Ghosts & Flowers is still [[BrokenBase the most divisive of their albums]], it's been much more warmly received in retrospect than when it was first released. The Pitchfork reviewer who [[EightPointEight gave it a 0/10]] later completely flipped his opinion, stating that he loves the album.

*** Possibly "Bull in the Heather," due to its inclusion in a ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' episode.

*** Possibly "Bull in the Heather," due to its inclusion in a WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead episode.

** The video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reSOp1domrU "Tunic (Song for Karen)"]] is unsettling, especially when you know exactly [[AuthorExistenceFailure what]] [[WeightWoe happened]] to [[{{Music/Carpenters}} Karen Carpenter]].
--> [[MadnessMantra You aren't never going anywhere, you aren't never going anywhere,]] [[BreakTheCutie I ain't never going anywhere, I ain't never going anywhere...]]

** The [[Music/{{Help}} "Ticket to Ride"]]/"Master-Dik" medley that they played live on air at a radio station and included on the ''Master-Dik'' EP: It was apparently an impromptu way to fill up air-time while Thurston was having technical difficulties with his guitar, and the "Ticket to Ride" portion has him [[{{Scatting}} scat-screaming]] his way through the lyrics to an accompaniment of bass, piano and drums.

-->'''[[Music/{{Minutemen}} Mike Watt]]:''' Ya gotta watch the mota, Thurston, your fuckin' memory just goes out the window!

* YokoOhNo: Defiantly averted by Kim throughout the band's career, but played straight with Eva Prinz, Thurston's mistress who also strung along Jim O'Rourke before getting with Thurston.

* GeniusBonus: Most of their lyrics make subtle literary allusions that one is prone to miss if one hasn't read the books in question. ''Sister'', in particular, is loaded with references to Creator/PhilipKDick (including its title, as explained on the main page under LiteraryAllusionTitle), to the point of being a loose ConceptAlbum about his life and works. Similarly, "The Sprawl" is inspired by Creator/WilliamGibson's ''Literature/SprawlTrilogy'' (including]] [[LiteraryAllusionTitle its title), and several other songs on ''Music/DaydreamNation'' also refer to Gibson's works. These may actually border on ViewersAreGeniuses in many cases, as the songs may read like WordSaladLyrics to listeners lacking familiarity with the works/authors in question.

* GeniusBonus: Most of their lyrics make subtle literary allusions that one is prone to miss if one hasn't read the books in question. ''Sister'', in particular, is loaded with references to Creator/PhilipKDick (including its title, as explained on the main page under LiteraryAllusionTitle), to the point of being a loose ConceptAlbum about his life and works. Similarly, "The Sprawl" is inspired by Creator/WilliamGibson's ''Literature/SprawlTrilogy'' ([[CaptainObvious including]] [[LiteraryAllusionTitle its title]]), and several other songs on ''Music/DaydreamNation'' also refer to Gibson's works. These may actually border on ViewersAreGeniuses in many cases, as the songs may read like WordSaladLyrics to listeners lacking familiarity with the works/authors in question.

* YokoOhNo: Defiantly averted by Kim throughout the band's career, but played straight with Eva Prinz, Thurston's mistress which as Kim revealed, also strung along Jim O'Rourke before getting with Thurston.