Summer concerts, in Delaware and beyond

Summer concerts, in Delaware and beyond

Sonic Youth, 8:30 p.m. July 2 at The Electric Factory.

Sonic Youth is an important band. Don't ask why. They just are. And there is no way you possibly can be considered cool if you do not have a copy of the 1988 album "Daydream Nation" in your stack of CDs or vinyl. Doesn't matter if you listen to it or not. It just has to be there.

We kid, but we will acknowledge that the New York band was highly influential. Would Kurt Cobain have smothered his vitriolic lyrics with a jam-like spread of fuzz and feedback had he not heard the out-of-control guitar work of Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore?

Would girl rock have exuded the same kind of cool had bands like The Donnas or Sleater Kinney never had Kim Gordon as a role model?

We believe that, although so-called music mags like Rolling Stone have put SY into the overrated stratosphere, they are indeed important.

But we still won't listen to "Daydream Nation."

Tickets for the show are $25.