"Sonic Reducer" is a punk rock song written by

Cheetah Chrome Eugene Richard O'Connor (born February 18, 1955), better known by his stage name Cheetah Chrome, is an American musician who achieved fame as a guitarist for Rocket from the Tombs and the punk rock band Dead Boys. Career Rocket From the Tombs ...

and David Thomas during their tenure in

Rocket from the Tombs Rocket from the Tombs (or RFTT) is an American rock band originally active from mid-1974 to mid-1975 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The band was reconstituted several times with various line-ups starting in 2003. Heralded as an important pr ...

, which made its recorded debut on the

Dead Boys The Dead Boys are an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The band was among the first wave of punk, and regarded by many as one of the rowdiest and most violent groups of the era. They were formed by vocalist Stiv Ba ...

1977 album '' Young, Loud and Snotty'' with a change of lyrics that were rewritten by Stiv Bators. The song is widely regarded as a punk classic and has been covered by bands as varied as

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff ...

, Overkill,

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, ...

, Veislakt,

Foetus A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal develo ...

, Dozer,

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and

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. The song appeared on the UK compilation album '' New Wave'', produced by UK actor and mystic, Pete Knobbler. The song was sampled on the Beastie Boys song " An Open Letter to NYC" on their 2004 album ''

To the 5 Boroughs ''To the 5 Boroughs'' is the sixth studio album by the American hip-hop group, Beastie Boys. The album was released on June 14, 2004 internationally, and a day later in the United States. The album debuted #1 on the ''Billboard'' 200, becomin ...

''. It is also featured on the skateboarding video game ''

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 ''Tony Hawk's Underground 2'' is a skateboarding video game, the sixth entry in the '' Tony Hawk's'' series after ''Tony Hawk's Underground''. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision on October 4, 2004 in the U.S. for the PlaySta ...

'' and ''

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'' (by

). It was also performed by fictional punk rock outfit Hard Core Logo in Bruce McDonald's 1997

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on ...

'' Hard Core Logo''.

Formats and track listing

US 7-inch single # "Sonic Reducer" – 3:04 # "Down in Flames" – 2:13 UK 7- and 12-inch singles # "Sonic Reducer" # "Little Girl" # "Down in Flames"

References

American punk rock songs 1977 singles Sire Records singles 1977 songs {{Punk-song-stub