Ya La Tengo keeps old sound while hitting its career peak
By: Michael Roberts
Issue date: 11/17/06 Section: Features
- Page 1 of 2 next >
For the past 20 years or so, Hoboken, N.J.-based indie rock outfit Yo La Tengo has remained one of the most consistent and prolific cornerstones of college music, releasing an album every few years that at once explores new sonic territory while staying true to its signature REM-meets-the-Velvet-Underground sound.
The longevity of a college rock band is a minor miracle in this era of three-album bands, but Yo La Tengo's reliability to release records that appeal to both critics and fans will certainly earn the band a spot in indie rock history.
Yo La Tengo's consistency throughout the '90s and into this century, though, often acts as a burden for the band; critics and fans have a tendency to dismiss each new release as "another good Yo La Tengo record," thereby adding the new record to the ever-growing pile of good-but-not-great YLT albums.
Yo La Tengo's new album, the lavishly titled "I am not afraid of you and I will beat your ass," should by no means be under-appreciated as merely a "good" Yo La Tengo record. With this fall 2006 release, the band follows its rare misstep "Summer Sun" with a true return to form, crafting indie rock songs that range from compact to expansive, but always remain elegant and beautiful.
The album opens with a true rock epic, the 11-minute "Pass the Hatchet, I think I'm Goodkind." With it, the listener is introduced to the new album through waves of jams and distortions, reminiscent of fellow college rock pioneers Sonic Youth and Pavement. An 11-minute track is an aggressive way to begin any rock album, but Yo La Tengo pulls it off by allowing a driving melody and rocking guitar solos to keep the song moving.
This entrancing soundscape is matched at the end of the album, with the equally long and ambitious "The Story of Yo La Tengo," which maintains a still broader scope, if sacrificing the melodic accessibility of the opening track. These two epics alone point to the greatness of the new YLT release, containing some of the best distortion solo work since Sonic Youth calmed down, or at least since Sleater Kinney broke up.
The longevity of a college rock band is a minor miracle in this era of three-album bands, but Yo La Tengo's reliability to release records that appeal to both critics and fans will certainly earn the band a spot in indie rock history.
Yo La Tengo's consistency throughout the '90s and into this century, though, often acts as a burden for the band; critics and fans have a tendency to dismiss each new release as "another good Yo La Tengo record," thereby adding the new record to the ever-growing pile of good-but-not-great YLT albums.
Yo La Tengo's new album, the lavishly titled "I am not afraid of you and I will beat your ass," should by no means be under-appreciated as merely a "good" Yo La Tengo record. With this fall 2006 release, the band follows its rare misstep "Summer Sun" with a true return to form, crafting indie rock songs that range from compact to expansive, but always remain elegant and beautiful.
The album opens with a true rock epic, the 11-minute "Pass the Hatchet, I think I'm Goodkind." With it, the listener is introduced to the new album through waves of jams and distortions, reminiscent of fellow college rock pioneers Sonic Youth and Pavement. An 11-minute track is an aggressive way to begin any rock album, but Yo La Tengo pulls it off by allowing a driving melody and rocking guitar solos to keep the song moving.
This entrancing soundscape is matched at the end of the album, with the equally long and ambitious "The Story of Yo La Tengo," which maintains a still broader scope, if sacrificing the melodic accessibility of the opening track. These two epics alone point to the greatness of the new YLT release, containing some of the best distortion solo work since Sonic Youth calmed down, or at least since Sleater Kinney broke up.
Be the first to comment on this story