Sonic Youth

November 14, 2005 7:42 AM

Sonic Youth.Mentioned as far back as Bible when the walls of Jericho are brought down by trumpets, sonic weapons have often been the stuff of legend. Now a UK company is selling a sonic device targeted specifically against gangs of youths.
posted by oh pollo! (17 comments total)

It's actually just an amplifier linked to Pink Floyd's "The Wall" - it bawls out "Yes you! Stand still laddie!" in a broad Scots accent...
posted by Chunder at 7:57 AM on November 14, 2005

Many older customers cannot hear it - but teenagers, who previously congregated in the evenings - have complained to Mr Gough about the noise.

One of the shopping centers near my home manages to achieve a similar result -- discouraging youths from loitering in front of its stores -- by broadcasting Musak versions of awful 70s easy listening tunes ("baby, i'm a want you") over the PA system.

Reminds me of the old joke: "The American space program spend $20MM researching and developing a writing implement that would work in low pressure, zero gravity environments. The Soviets used a pencil."
posted by psmealey at 7:58 AM on November 14, 2005

I'd rather have one of these...
posted by SweetJesus at 8:01 AM on November 14, 2005

Chunder: "It's actually just an amplifier linked to Pink Floyd's "The Wall" - it bawls out "Yes you! Stand still laddie!" in a broad Scots accent..."

Well, that's a totally different story. Does Amazon carry them? Do they vibrate?

I had to read the FPP twice before I realized the poster wasn't suggesting that Sonic Youth was in the bible.
posted by Plutor at 8:06 AM on November 14, 2005

Complex High
Frequency Sound To Chase Away Those Annoying Teenagers!!!

..and keep your shop noticeably uncontaminated with customers, too?
posted by CynicalKnight at 8:10 AM on November 14, 2005

One more post about sound and somebody can go and snark about "SoundFilter."
posted by TwelveTwo at 8:17 AM on November 14, 2005

I thought the accepted way to drive away annoying teenagers was to play classical music at them.
posted by chrismear at 8:20 AM on November 14, 2005

Or what psmealey said.
posted by chrismear at 8:21 AM on November 14, 2005

Ha, that pic of Beethoven in chrismear's article makes him look like a real curmudgeon - "Away with you, yobs! I'm composing!"
posted by blendor at 8:41 AM on November 14, 2005

If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding.
How can you have any pudding, if you don't eat your meat?
posted by blue_beetle at 8:51 AM on November 14, 2005

When old people attack!
posted by Baby_Balrog at 8:53 AM on November 14, 2005

Awesome! Why address the social, economic and cultural problems that cause people to riot when you can just attack the people! It's brilliant!
posted by slatternus at 9:42 AM on November 14, 2005

The Country Club Plaza, the distinction of being the oldest suburban mall in the US, has a great parking lot system that integrates itself into the architecture. A while back they had a problem with kids not having anything to do after 9PM as the bars stayed open in the Plaza and nearby Westport. They'd hang around be-bopping and such in the parking garages. So they start pumping out Sinatra at night. It worked well until the kids just broke the speaker system. That cage looks full-proof but you'd be amazed at the ingenuity of bored youth.
posted by geoff. at 10:17 AM on November 14, 2005

It emits a piercing, high frequency sound that is audible only, in 90 per cent of cases, to people under the age of 20.

New rite of passage for loitering gang youths: be there when the sound cuts off on your 20th birthday.
posted by kosem at 10:28 AM on November 14, 2005

Did Jim O'Rourke produce?
posted by pfafflin at 1:34 PM on November 14, 2005

I had a physics teacher who did that during class to get us to settle down. Not everyone in the class could hear it. I blame headphones.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 2:18 PM on November 14, 2005

Mr Gough says gangs of around half a dozen up to 30 people have been hanging around the shop.

"They usually move on if I ask them but the problem has always existed," said Mr Gough, who has run the shop for 15 years. "

So what was the "problem" again?
posted by mrgrimm at 2:42 PM on November 14, 2005