Named after a 1962 anecdote about New York Met center fielder Richard Ashburn’s constant warning cries to Venezuelan shortstop, Elio Chacón, during flyballs to avoid collisions, Yo La Tengo (an incorrect conjugation of the Spanish phrase for “I’ve got it”) consists of Ira Kaplan (lead guitar, vocals) and his spouse Georgia Hubley (drums, vocals), along with bassist James McNew.
From their 1993 album Painful onward, the Hoboken-based trio has been licentiously cavorting with styles of pop and rock in ways that make their albums sound like mixed tapes from a music geek’s library. One minute, they’re blaring out a straight-up rock number like “Sugarcube,” then suddenly they’ve switched over to bossa nova in “Center of Gravity.”
And yet, somehow, Yo La Tengo still have an extra ace up their sleeve. On I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass (2006, Matador) — which has got to be the best album title in recent memory — the trio embellished their songs with dreamy vocals and expert instrumental skill. Sure, they still trot off the usual too-cool-for-school vibe of openly Maximalist noise-rockers who hold on to their principal with violent dedication. But they do it so well, the only critique one can give I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass is that it is too much of a good thing.
From the sprawling groove of the 10-minute jam track “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind” to the epic grandeur of the 12-minute feedback and cymbal clash of the appropriately titled “The Story Of Yo La Tengo,” each track builds and reforms the shape of the album in obtuse angles. “Beanbag Chair” comes off as very Belle and Sebastian, with the soft blurt of trumpets and wispy voices barely trouncing the surrounding music. Both “Mr. Tough” and “Sometimes I Don’t Get You” cull from Smokey Robinson-style soul.
Habley’s dry voice is used to maximum effect on the droningly hypnotic dance number “The Room Got Heavy” and the Carpenters-esque “The Weakest Part.” And, just to offset the mellow vibe throughout the album, Yo La Tengo turns out a jangly, garage rocker in “Watch Out For Me Ronnie,” a song both The Kinks and Paul McCartney would have been proud to call their own.
There is just no defining band that showcases its entire vinyl collection through its own poetry. Yo La Tengo is still not particularly as innovative as Sonic Youth and yet I Am Not Afraid of You And I Will Beat Your Ass is just wily enough — just brave enough in its haughty defiance of the Billboard norms — to warrant the band its devout cult.
Perhaps it is the ability to exist outside of specialist genres that makes I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass such a charming album, as it is that same quality that makes Yo La Tengo such a charming band. While it sometimes seems like the band has an identity crisis, by keeping its structure fluid and its convictions devoted to the quality of its output Yo La Tengo falls out of allegiance with the masses and still manages to make music that practically everyone with any resemblance of artistic integrity can admire.
Despite the impudent chortle of its title, I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass is actually an inviting listen. It’s not rare to hear an album by a band that wants to totally assimilate itself into a genre they love, but with I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass the incorrectly-conjugated Yo La Tengo leaves nothing lost in translation: the band loves all music and is willing to play all genres to prove it.
No comments:
Post a Comment