Spring Break
On the Record: Yo La Tengo and Beyoncé
Arts | 9/5/06
Posted online at 4:03 AM EST on 9/5/06
Yo La Tengo
I am Not Afraid of You and I will Beat Your Ass
on Matador Records
A
I am Not Afraid of You and I will Beat your Ass is one hell of a title for an ambitious, pink-covered album. Spanning 76 minutes, this new Yo La Tengo joint reaches the same musical velocity as The White Album, with half as much goofing around. The disc is a testament to Yo La Tengo's melodic sensibilities, and with it the Hoboken trio has created its best and most consistent album since the classic I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One.
Watch as Yo La Tengo revives old, new and borrowed song styles. I am Not Afraid's tracks are bookended by two stellar 10-plus-minute jams, reminding us of the band's very distorted Painful days ("Pass the Hatchet, "I Think I'm Goodkind," "The Story of Yo La Tengo"). The disc also features Yo La Tengo's first forays into horn-drenched piano pop ("Beanbag Chair," "Mr Tough"). The album even features a James McNew ballad à la John Cale's essential Paris 1919 ("Black Flowers") and shows the band reaching into their Nuggets box set for some garage rock kicks ("Watch out for Me Ronnie", "Point and Shoot").
Although I am Not Afraid's sequencing is somewhat questionable-the dreamy nine-instrumental "Daphnia" breaks the album in two-it showcases a band that has proved itself one of the most vibrant and fun acts to survive the '90s. They have turned away from the reverb-laced smog of depression that perfectly encompassed "…And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out and clogged its follow-up Summer Sun." They have also returned loud guitars to the forefront of almost half of the disc's songs, reviving an aesthetic unheard since "Cherry Chapstick."
Yo La Tengo is a band that knows and respects its rock 'n' roll history. Appropriately, much of the album's flavor is cultivated by a feeling of déjà vu, not only because of the swabs of classic Yo La Tengo ("The Race is On Again"), but also through its amalgamation of the band's favorite artists, including Sonic Youth, The Kinks, R.E.M., The Flamin' Groovies and Velvet Underground. The best bands know from whom they're pilfering and still can bring something new to the table. Yo La Tengo is no exception.
I am Not Afraid of You and I will Beat Your Ass
on Matador Records
A
I am Not Afraid of You and I will Beat your Ass is one hell of a title for an ambitious, pink-covered album. Spanning 76 minutes, this new Yo La Tengo joint reaches the same musical velocity as The White Album, with half as much goofing around. The disc is a testament to Yo La Tengo's melodic sensibilities, and with it the Hoboken trio has created its best and most consistent album since the classic I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One.
Watch as Yo La Tengo revives old, new and borrowed song styles. I am Not Afraid's tracks are bookended by two stellar 10-plus-minute jams, reminding us of the band's very distorted Painful days ("Pass the Hatchet, "I Think I'm Goodkind," "The Story of Yo La Tengo"). The disc also features Yo La Tengo's first forays into horn-drenched piano pop ("Beanbag Chair," "Mr Tough"). The album even features a James McNew ballad à la John Cale's essential Paris 1919 ("Black Flowers") and shows the band reaching into their Nuggets box set for some garage rock kicks ("Watch out for Me Ronnie", "Point and Shoot").
Although I am Not Afraid's sequencing is somewhat questionable-the dreamy nine-instrumental "Daphnia" breaks the album in two-it showcases a band that has proved itself one of the most vibrant and fun acts to survive the '90s. They have turned away from the reverb-laced smog of depression that perfectly encompassed "…And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out and clogged its follow-up Summer Sun." They have also returned loud guitars to the forefront of almost half of the disc's songs, reviving an aesthetic unheard since "Cherry Chapstick."
Yo La Tengo is a band that knows and respects its rock 'n' roll history. Appropriately, much of the album's flavor is cultivated by a feeling of déjà vu, not only because of the swabs of classic Yo La Tengo ("The Race is On Again"), but also through its amalgamation of the band's favorite artists, including Sonic Youth, The Kinks, R.E.M., The Flamin' Groovies and Velvet Underground. The best bands know from whom they're pilfering and still can bring something new to the table. Yo La Tengo is no exception.
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