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I've always felt that Dirty fills almost exactly the same part of the Sonic Youth canon as is filled in The Fall's case by The Infotainment Scan. Both are among the band's most accessible work, both are often less popular with long-term fans, but both contain a lot of absolute top-quality and memorable songs, and should be placed in the the respective band's top three LP's. It's no bad thing that amongst the more challenging works comes something much more instant and catchy - the popularity of these songs live is testament to that, and I for one consider that (in both cases) it's the variety of styles over time that is a vital part of the bands' enduring legacy and ability to keep me transfixed.
The 'mainstream' sound is a fallacy to some extent, in my opinion - it's only mainstream by comparison with some of their other works. I guarantee that my friends are just as bewildered by Youth Against Fascism or Drunken Butterfly as they are by other SY stuff.
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