Treat Yourself to the Best Yo La Tengo Record in a Decade

All Yo La Tengo records are classifiably "great" but 'This Stupid World' is required listening.

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Yo La Tengo is one of those bands that seem like they’ve followed me through many life events over the past few decades. They’re also a group that I remember the exact situation when I first heard them.

In the fallout of “Napster BAAAD” before streaming became a thing, the music industry was trying out different ways to talk people into paying for downloaded music, which was freely available with Kazaa, Limewire, or whatever filesharing program was your preference. One of these services was eMusic, an early subscription-based site. While I still did my fair share of downloading (come and get me, FBI!), eMusic turned out to be a godsend in developing my teenage music tastes.

eMusic wasn’t enough of a player to deal with the major labels and instead was filled with albums from the indies. We’re talking about now legendary labels like Merge, Matador, and Kill Rock Stars. I usually found myself taking a chance on albums, and the name Yo La Tengo was exotic enough for this gringo, who was foolishly taking German classes, to throw I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One and And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out onto some CD-Rs. I played the hell out of these Yo La Tengo albums, and Summer Sun was released a month before I graduated high school. Seven records later in their discography, it’s still my favorite Yo La Tengo effort - drop anything you’re doing and listen to it right now.

These seminal records, along with other bands like Pavement, Built To Spill, Spoon, and Sleater-Kinney, built the foundation of my perception of the entire “indie” genre. The term has morphed into an ugly all-encompassing monster that seems to be slapped on almost anything guitar-based while forgoing the DIY spirit. But on my path, these bands are the established bedrock that captures what the genre is all about.

This is a roundabout way to say that I’m happy that Headstuff, the Dublin-based site I’ve been contributing to, asked me to review their latest record, This Stupid World. It’s one that I’ve spent the last few weeks listening to endlessly, and I can comfortably say it’s their best since 2013’s underrated Fade. With members in their sixties, Yo La Tengo is beaten down and tired of the daily shit, just like you and me. Their solution is to rock in the face of the apocalypse and add some much-needed layered beauty to the world. As I sum up in my review:

“‘Fallout’ is classic Yo La Tengo and easily one of their best singles, but this entire record is a vintage outing from the indie vets who continually remind us there are other greats in New Jersey besides Bruce Springsteen. We are blessed that this band doesn’t share an interest in packing it up at forty. Instead, with This Stupid World, Yo La Tengo shows that age doesn’t lead to less shredding, and there is certainly no room for a decline when you’re one of the best bands to ever do this indie thing.”

One final note I couldn’t fit into this album review is that Georgia Hubley is the YLT MVP. She’s a wonderful drummer, but it's pure magic when she has the lead vocals for a song. Look no further than her cover of Big Star’s “Take Care” to close out Summer Sun - it’s far superior to the original, and I say this as a massive Big Star fan. As for This Stupid World, the best two songs again belong to Hubley with the tender “Aselestine” and “Miles Away” when she confronts the passing of time and lost friends head-on.

Enjoy your weekend, and long live Yo La Tengo.

You can read my review of This Stupid World here.