Yo La Tengo
Popular Songs
Matador
Yo La Tengo, the durable indie rock band that’s the pride of Hoboken, N.J., has released yet another winning album drawing on a multitude of musical influences. Lyrically, the band has always come across as literate and sly, but it’s never seemed driven by ideas or angst or (like many of their indie rock cousins) the guilty pleasure of non sequitur.
YLT makes music about music the way the Coen brothers make movies about cinema. As is the case with the Coens’ films, the intellectual rewards occasionally are undermined by a bloodless quality. There is never a lot at stake with YLT because there’s a wink lurking behind every swell of violins, every trumpet blast.
“Popular Songs,” the 12th studio album released under the YLT name, takes this tendency one step past mere allusion. Scattered here and there, like clues in some music nerd’s treasure hunt, are snippets of rock and pop hits. Some announce themselves with breathless exuberance — like the bass-and-violin opening from “I Can’t Help Myself” that heralds the opening of the bubble-gum-inflected track “If It’s True,” or the Booker T. & the M.G.’s Hammond organ riff that kicks off “Periodically Double or Triple.” Others insinuate themselves slowly, such as “And the Glitter Is Gone,” a hazy, wild guitar sojourn that incorporates the opening notes of Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour.”
No mere observer can hope to match wits with the rock encyclopedia that is Yo La Tengo. Guitarist Ira Kaplan, drummer Georgia Hubley and bassist James McNew likely have buried dozens more musical allusions among the songs of “Popular Songs.” That’s why the band is a perennial favorite for the sort of music fan who finds unalloyed virtue in minutiae.
But the joys of listening to “Popular Songs” aren’t limited to such parlor games. The new album lacks anything quite as infectious as “Mr. Tough” or as intense as “The Room Got Heavy,” both cuts from YLT’s previous studio album, “I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass.”
Still, there’s a lot to enjoy. Like the previous record, “Popular Songs” shuffles genres and instrumentation - so the ambient, growling “Here to Fall” plays alongside the gentle, soul-infused “I’m on My Way,” featuring Mr. Kaplan offering his slightly adenoidal take on Barry White’s signature whisper. “When It’s Dark” offers an ever-so-slight mariachi accent on what is otherwise a Velvet Underground homage - one of many in the YLT catalog.
“Popular Songs” also adds three numbers to YLT’s count of epics. “More Stars Than There Are in Heaven,” a nod to the old MGM slogan, clocks in at just under 10 minutes. It has a vintage Yo La Tengo feel, with synth notes and guitar fills soaring over the reverberations of distorted rhythm guitar. The neo-psychedelic track “The Fireside” clocks in at more than 11 minutes. The tune harks back to the mellow side of Led Zeppelin with acoustic guitar, organ and an array of shimmering pedal effects. The album’s final track, “And the Glitter is Gone,” sustains itself for a full 15 minutes.
If nothing else, “Popular Songs” affirms YLT’s status as one of the more underappreciated jam bands at work today.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.