Kill Yr Idols

Shortly after the release of Confusion is Sex, Moore and Ranaldo were enlisted by Glenn Branca to join his ensemble for a short European tour. The guitarists, awed by the passionate reaction Branca got from the overseas audiences (especially in contrast to the nearly-empty, disinterested clubs they were used to in America), decided to use this opportunity to set up a tour for Sonic Youth in the same venues. The tour was a significant success for the group—though they drove quite a few people away with the noise level, those that stayed were enraptured.

Before a tour date in Germany, the band met up with the head of the Zensor label, which Branca had used to distribute Neutral albums in Europe (including the first Sonic Youth album). The band offered Zensor a tape of a recent session they’d recorded after a drunken club owner paid them twice for the same show. The tape, comprising three songs, was soon released as a European-exclusive EP—filled out with “Protect Me You” and “Shaking Hell” from Confusion, which at that time hadn’t been released in Europe) and a live version of “Shaking Hell”, recorded at the Plugg Club in October 1983.