Published by Faber & Faber
As a co-founder of influential no wave band Sonic Youth, Kim Gordon is used to the spotlight. But despite being in the public eye since the Eighties when the group formed, the bassist, artist and clothes designer has remained a rather private figure, often keeping schtum on her personal life.
So it comes as pleasant surprise to find out more about the prominent musician in her autobiography Girl In A Band, not least because after 27 years of marriage, she split up with Thurston Moore, the band’s singer and guitarist
Kicking off with the band’s final shows in South America, Gordon sheds light onto the pain she felt uniting on stage with her estranged husband, whose affair caused their split.
It’s credit to Gordon that instead of waging war on Moore, she maintains a dignified stance on the hurt she suffered. But while she doesn’t muddy Moore’s name, she is upfront about the awkward atmosphere during those last gigs.
Later, passages on a fallout with Courtney Love (Gordon produced Love’s first album with Hole) and her impressions of late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain will keep grunge fans happy.
Girl In A Band is a colourful read, which is sensitively managed and puts Gordon rightly at centre stage.