June 3, 2002 — In support of their new release Murray Street, Sonic Youth plan to rock the USA and Canada this summer. The tour will include a free concert at Central Park's Summerstage in NYC, Sunday, August 11th and a show at Los Angeles' El Rey Theatre, August 25th.

The new album, which has prompted the resurrection of the DGC imprint through Interscope Records, is set for release June 25th. It is Sonic Youth's 16th official full-length release. It also marks the 21st year of the band's existence. Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley, along with new member Jim O'Rourke have proven to be a seminal force in the world of avant-garde music and art.

Murray Street was created at the band's self-built Echo Canyon Studio -- located on Murray Street in downtown NYC, a neighborhood ravaged by the nightmare of 9/11/01. Though the record was being readied prior to the devastation, the bulk of the work took place throughout the winter of 2001/2002, after the band decided to reclaim its workplace. Amidst an environment barricaded and desolate, yet with an active light of reparation, Sonic Youth created the evocative new recording. It's a mix of their '80s/early '90s pop-noise classics Sister, Daydream Nation and Dirty with the sprawling energy dynamics of 1997's A Thousand Leaves and 2000's NYC Ghosts & Flowers.

Sonic Youth managed to curate the first stateside All Tomorrow's Parties festival this past March (which had been rescheduled from its early October 2001 dates for obvious reasons) on the UCLA campus. It was a resounding success of multi-musical performances ranging from Sleater-Kinney to Television to Eddie Vedder to Cecil Taylor to Cat Power to Sonic Youth themselves.

Concurrent with the Murray Street sessions, the band scored music for French auteur Olivier Assayas' film "Demon Lover" and for Allison Anders' hard-hitting Showtime film "Things Behind the Sun." Earlier in 2001, the band recorded in Paris, studio and live, with the legendary French surrealist chanteuse Brigitte Fontaine. This recording will be released on Sonic Youth's own SYR label later this fall as a CD/DVD. The band's visual-art work through the years was collected for a gallery exhibit first at New York's Printed Matter space and subsequently at gallery spaces in Australia, Toronto and L.A. Each member of Sonic Youth continues to participate in various solo and community events -- musical, interdisciplinary and beyond.

Before embarking on the North American jaunt the band will tour throughout Europe and play the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan. They are wrapping up a historical reissue of their 1992 classic, Dirty, for Universal Music. The double-CD package will consist of the re-mastered record as well as B-sides, compilation tracks, unreleased eight-track demos, and related graphics -- with liner notes from Byron Coley. Its release is slated for fall 2002 with reissues of Goo and Daydream Nation to follow.

North American tour dates:

8/1/02     Dallas, TX       TBA
8/2/02     Austin, TX       Stubb's
8/3/02     New Orleans, LA  Tipitina's
8/5/02     Atlanta, GA      Variety Playhouse
8/6/02     Athens, GA       40 Watt Club
8/7/02     Raleigh, NC      The Ritz
8/8/02     Washington, DC   930 Club
8/10/02    Philly, PA       Trocadero
8/11/02    New York, NY     Central Park/Summer Stage
8/13/02    Boston, MA       Roxy
8/14/02    Montreal, QUE.   Le Medley
8/15/02    Toronto, ONT     Kool Haus
8/16/02    Detroit, MI      Royal Oak Theatre
8/17/02    Chicago, IL      Metro
8/19/02    Minneapolis, MN  First Ave.
8/21/02    Denver, CO       Ogden Theatre
8/23/02    San Diego, CA    Del Mar Fairgrounds
8/25/02    Los Angeles, CA  El Rey Theatre
8/27/02    San Fran, CA     Fillmore
8/30/02    Portland, OR     Crystal Ballroom
8/31/02    Vancouver BC     TBA
9/1/02     Seattle, WA      Bumbershoot