A previously unpublished essay by David Stubbs, on Paul Smith's Blast First label and Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon's Sonic Youth.

New York's Sonic Youth and Los Angeles' Savage Republic are revitilising American rock music with their hard-core attitudes and screaming guitars. Biba Kopf reports on the coast-to-coast cacophony as rampant discords clash by night. This article originally appeared in The Wire 58 (December 1988).