Band of the Week: Yo La Tengo

There are some bands that have somehow forever remained as these huge holes in my musical repertoire, and Hoboken, New Jersey’s Yo La Tengo has always been one of them...

I’ve had many friends recommend their music to me, but maybe I didn’t hear the right tracks or it just wasn’t what I was into at the time or whatevah, but I just never got into them. That is, until I caught a review of their new album I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass on NPR a few weeks ago, a segment which included samples of several, incredible tracks.

I snagged the cd shortly afterwards at Sea Level and … there’s simply no escaping how good this album is.

It’s positively endearing how it goes from the eight-minute, heavy guitar opener Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind right into the gloriously poppy and upbeat Beanbag Chair, but there are numerous other reasons to love it -- like the jazzy-in-a-good-way Mr. Tough and Sometimes I Don’t Get You, the mildly psychedelic The Race Is On Again and The Room Got Heavy, the 60s film soundtrack-esque I Should Have Known Better, or the perfect song to wake up to in the morning, Black Flowers.

It's easy to say that I’m looking forward to going back and picking up earlier albums from Yo La Tengo’s twelve-year back catalog.

At least, if I can ever break free of this one...

Yo La Tengo are playing The Henry Fonda Theatre on Monday, October 23rd.

MP3: Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind
MP3: Beanbag Chair