Yo La Tengo
(Matador)
Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan has always bristled at the "indie rock" tag, and if you've followed the band over its two-decade-plus tenure you know it's not just because of that label's specious ambiguity (though that'll certainly get his eyeballs rolling). If one (alleged) tenet of indie rock is its ironic stance toward the rock canon, there's little of that in the trio's approach to the pop-rock songbook, either in their cover song choices or the array of familiar styles they've put their imprint on.
Kaplan and band mates Georgia Hubley (drums) and James McNew (bass) don't put much stock in vigilant originality either, another supposed indie rock article of faith. This doesn't mean Kaplan and co. presume to be beyond irony's long reach (note their "Sugarcube"/School of Rock video) or don't value invention - there's also a reason they dubbed their excellent new record Popular Songs, and there's always unexpected twists and turns on Yo La Tengo records. But at this point in their career - or at their age, if you like - they know they're not reinventing wheels, just putting fresh ones on the car every couple of years. As Kaplan recently told The New York Times, "I don't put a gigantic premium on originality. I don't think there's anything wrong with music reminding you of something else. That doesn't disqualify it from being good." As for that title? Well, we're venturing into Foucault's funhouse mirror here, but by the law of double negatives, they've neutered irony by invoking it so obviously. Or, maybe it's just that the styles the band references are popular with them, and that's enough to keep Yo La Tengo - and by extension, us - interested. (Discuss.)
One thing we can say with certainty about Popular Songs is that these dozen tracks find a band filtering rock history through its own history, adding new elements they've not used before to songs that almost always recall other Yo La Tengo songs. In that context, the addition of a few new accents keeps things fresh for everybody without invoking cumbersome notions of wheel reinvention. "Nothing to Hide," for instance, may be one of those ultra-catchy "Cherry Chapstick"/"Sugarcube" rockers that embeds in your consciousness for years (and whose chorus -- "We've all got something to hide" -- might prove embarrassing sung aloud in line at the supermarket), but it adds a pulsing keyboard part aggressive enough to match one of Kaplan's trademark feedback frenzies. Then there's the newly minted (for YLT) string trio that extends the band's already extended sonic palette. Used judiciously, the strings mix with organ washes for a nostalgic Hitsville USA vibe on the summery "If It's True" (this record's "Beanbag Chair"), and they add an Urban Hymns-like swagger to the echo-chamber of keyboard noise on disc-opener "Here To Fall," whose mature look at love bookends Kaplan's ode to young love from 2000's And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out..., "Our Way to Fall."
That record, incidentally, has its dreamy paces recalled in the delicate "By Two's" -- whose quiet synth textures and subdued beats provide the lattice-work for Hubley's near-whisper -- and the patient acoustic drone and space-noise of the 11-minute-plus "Fireside." McNew's "I'm On My Way" is another of those sneaky soft-rock hooks that he's been springing on us since "Stockholm Syndrome," and placed back-to-back with Hubley's "When It's Dark" (note the French horn, acoustic guitar solo and Fakebook-like harmonies) together they suggest those late-night infomercials hosted by the Air Supply dudes - except with better melodies and less-cheesy narratives. "Avalon or Somewhere Very Similar," featuring Kaplan and Hubley in harmonious falsetto mode, is an updated Fakebook-like homage to summer pop, and the couple's vocal interplay also highlights "All Your Secrets" (nobody works a simple background "doo-doo-doo-doo" more effectively). Then there's the groovy curveball "Periodically Double or Triple," a Booker T-meets-Beck mash-up with a narrative that could be an update on Mr. Hansen's slacker anthem "Loser." "Never read Proust, seems a bit too long/Never used a hammer without using it wrong," Kaplan sings before transposing one of his melody-and-skronk guitar solos to organ on the bridge, and channeling Steve Nieve through Jimmy Smith in the process.
Finally, there are the three songs that end the record and take up just slightly less time (37 minutes) than the nine tracks that precede it. In less assured hands, ending an album with three consecutive marathons would probably sink whatever came before. But these are, instead, three of the best stretch-outs in the band's extensive stretch-outs catalog, and each explores different epic territory: The droning bass-and-guitar riff of "More Stars Than There Are in Heaven" is leavened with e-bow curlicues and a wistful "we'll walk hand in hand" mantra; "Fireside" creates atmosphere initially with acoustic guitar (not unlike the opening to the Stones' "Moonlight Mile") and a gentle haze of background noise, slowly evolving - via McNew's insistent bass figure, daubs of electric guitar and, seven minutes in, a few rueful lyrics from Kaplan -- into something more deliberate and noir-ish that would fit comfortably in the Friends of Dean Martinez songbook; and, finally, 16 minutes long and as explosive as a supernova, "And the Glitter is Gone" marries a melodic "Third Stone From the Sun" mega-riff with Kaplan's controlled feedback chaos and Hubley's impressive "Tomorrow Never Knows" raga-beats and cymbal explosions, creating one of the band's tightest and most hypnotic jams. By the time that spell ends, Kaplan's proven that even if he didn't invent melody-and-dissonance solos, he's certainly mastered the breaking-wild-horses nature of them.
This triptych of epics strains the popular songs idea to its breaking point - unless, of course, you're a Yo La Tengo fan, in which case they should prove quite popular with you. The rest should be popular with almost everybody, since that's their heritage. And if you find something ironic about that, that's your issue, not theirs.
STANDOUT TRACKS: "Avalon or Somewhere Very Similar," "Nothing to Hide," "I'm On My Way" JOHN SCHACHT
