Sonic Youth are no longer youth, but the adjective still fits.

The legendary rock band will headline the next free Twilight Concert Series July 30 with openers Awesome Color, just one of the bands that has been influenced by the experimental quintet that helped spawn both the terms "indie rock" and "alternative rock."

The New York City-based Sonic Youth played its first show in 1981 with core members Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo, who share singing duties. Twenty-eight years later, the band includes Steve Shelley, the band's drummer since 1985, and Mark Ibold, former bassist of Pavement. Guitarist Moore and singer-guitarist Gordon have been married since 1984 and are known as the First Family of rock, while Ranaldo is respected in his own right as a talented songwriter and guitarist.

Sonic Youth never broke into the mainstream, but its biggest notoriety came in the early 1990s, when grunge replaced hair metal on rock radio, and upstart bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam named Sonic Youth as one of their influences. The band headlined Lollapalooza in 1995. While public attention might have faded, the band has continued recording and this year released "The Eternal," its 16th studio album and the first record released under indie label Matador.

"So far, it's worked out incredibly well," Ranaldo said of the band's decision to leave major label Geffen. The band had signed with Geffen in 1990 to ensure better distribution of the band's albums, Ranaldo said, but now that there are so many ways to sell and distribute albums, the reasons for staying with a major label were null and void.

Instead of holing up in a studio and recording "The Eternal," the band did something it hadn't done before, which led to three long years between their previous album, "Rather Ripped," and "The Eternal." "We recorded in short batches," Ranaldo said. "It was a pretty conscious decision. We wanted to find a different way to do it. It was pretty cool ... Your eyes get a little cross-eyed [during normal recording sessions, which can last for months]."

Despite a do-it-yourself ethic and the band's penchant for taking a pass on publicity stunts, the album still debuted at No. 18 the week it was released.

Another reason for the lapse between new albums was the 20-year anniversary tour in support of "Daydream Nation," Sonic Youth's most important record, regarded as one of the rock milestones of the 1980s.

In 1988, the record company proposed a tour where the band would play all the songs from the 70-minute album. The band initially opposed the idea, but eventually acquiesced. "It was one of those 'Don't Look Back' tours," Ranaldo said. "Why should we go back and revisit it when we could spend time writing new music? We're not into nostalgia."

Awesome Color, the opening act, has opened for Sonic Youth before, as the trio is signed to Moore's record label Ecstatic Peace. Despite a friendship with the band, the band members -- Awesome Allison, Awesome Derek and Awesome Michael -- still pinch themselves. "I'm the heiress to the [Anheuser] Busch family," Allison joked. "How else did we get to tour with Sonic Youth?"

The experimental, gritty rock band claims inspiration from its heroes. "We're super-influenced by Sonic Youth," Awesome Derek said. "It's deeply embedded in our subconscious. Our lives were changed by Sonic Youth ... My first concert was Sonic Youth."

The three Michigan natives connected in New York City and began Awesome Color there, where they were noticed by Moore. The band has moved back to Michigan, though.

"At our level, we can't afford to rent in New York City," Awesome Michael said.

"It's cheaper to live in Michigan," Awesome Derek said. "But it's harder to get jobs here in between tours."