Opposites Attract: Sonic Youth And Starbucks

Sonic Youth’s greatest hits compilation has been catching a lot of crap lately, simply for only being sold through the Starbucks chain. In association with the burnt, sour and stale muffin coffee chain’s Hear Music outlet, the 14-track disc, Hits Are For Squares which is curated by famous friends of the band plus one new final track, has left many fans of the New York alt-band relatively dumbfounded. Not only that, but the disc is only available at select Starbucks – those in New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Way to skip an entire part of the country.

"I never thought of it as being more radical than recording for Universal Music," guitarist Thurston Moore told Billboard last year. "They're both corporations that have ties to things that people find sort of problematic." Well, that’s one way to defend where you’re getting your next paycheck.

The majority of Sonic Youth fans find the unusual pairing a bit ironic, but mostly rather tragic. This, despite the fact that those who helped choose the songs are very much among the anti-corporation dogma, including Beck, Eddie Veder and Radiohead. The same cannot be said for Portia di Rossi. But hey, we’ve all been guilty of a frapaccino or two. Below: the tracklist.


Bull in the Heather (Catherine Keener)
Sugar Kane (Beck)
100% (Mike D)
Kool Thing (Radiohead)
Disappearer (Portia de Rossi)
Stones (Allison Anders)
Tuff Gnarl (Dave Eggers and Mike Watt)
Teenage Riot (Eddie Vedder)
Shadow of a Doubt (Michelle Williams)
Rain on Tin (Flea)
Tom Violence (Gus Van Sant)
Mary-Christ (David Cross)
World Looks Red (Chloë Sevigny)
Expressway to Yr Skull (Flaming Lips)
Slow Revolution (new)