Sonic Youth broke up in 2011, seemingly irrevocably, amidst the divorce of formerly married bandleaders Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon. In the years since then, Gordon has not exactly given off the impression that she and Moore are still friends. A couple of years ago, however, Moore claimed that a Sonic Youth reunion is "always going to be on the table." Last year, Moore got back together with ex-bandmates Lee Randaldo and Steve Shelley at a New York show. That night, Kim Gordon was conspicuous in her absence. But now, there's at least some indication that Sonic Youth are doing something next year.
Sonic Youth released Washing Machine, their ninth studio album, on September 26, 1995. Good record! It's the one with "The Diamond Sea" on it! As you may have noticed, that means today marks the 30th anniversary of Washing Machine. To celebrate, various different Sonic Youth-related Instagram accounts have posted the picture of the washing machine from Washing Machine. Now, however, the machine doesn't have "Sonic Youth" written on it. Instead, it says "2026." Even Kim Gordon posted it! That must mean something! Instagram embeds are all fucked up right now, but you can see the actual posts here, here, and here. Behold the screenshots in all their glory below.
It's probably just a reissue. We probably shouldn't get too excited. But what if it was something else? We at Stereogum are so fond of Washing Machine that we paid homage with a T-shirt design. Ours has a refrigerator, though. It's very different. This weekend, that shirt is 30% off with the coupon code WASHING; you can get it right here.
