Superstar

Recorded for the 1994 Carpenters tribute album If I Were a Carpenter. Sonic Youth produced the performance with Matt Wallace, recasting the composition through Kim Gordon's restrained vocal and the band's distorted guitars. Released as a single, the cover reached number 26 on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart and number 45 on the UK Singles Chart. Its stark arrangement became one of the tribute album's most prominent reinterpretations. The recording remains one of Sonic Youth's best-known covers and introduced the song to a new alternative-rock audience. It has since appeared on compilations including Hits Are for Squares and became closely identified with the band's quieter, atmospheric side.