Yo La Tengo – Popular Songs

Presenter

Jade Nobbs

Published

Thursday 3rd September

(Matador/Remote Control)

The halcyon days for lovers of insouciant indie rock just keep rolling on in 2009, with yet another release from a seminal band of the irreverent pantheon of ‘90s alt-rock. Along with other stalwart campaigners such as Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr, Yo La Tengo are back to regale us with more of their nonchalant, naïve-yet-ironic sound that just never seems to get old, perhaps precisely due to its complete indifference to being anything other than itself.

And Yo La Tengo’s output over the last three decades has been nothing if not regular and consistent—turning out an album every two or three years—so theirs is a legacy based not upon sporadic revisiting of former glories, but rather upon longevity and continual application to their trade—if such a vocational description can be applied to a group whose trademark fuck-off phlegmaticism is precisely what defines their trajectory as “career musicians.”

On Popular Songs, their 16th album—give or take, depending on your mode of reckoning—Yo La Tengo have once again grabbed their guns and stuck to them, setting their sights on a whole catalogue of popular music styles, tackling and recombining them all under the banner of their signature indifferent looseness and effortless aesthetic. The result is supremely enjoyable, and just what you would expect from a Yo La Tengo record: nonchalant, introspective and detached, yet still tirelessly eclectic, playful and, well, fun. One of the things that consistently defines Yo La Tengo’s releases—unlike some other well-worn names of the ‘90s indie scene—is that they always really seem to enjoy making their music, and it comes across on their albums.

And Popular Songs is no different, with most of the tracks having the feel of a soft, well-worn cardigan. Opener “Here To Fall” takes a leaf out of their soundtrack directions songbook, having a sci-fi retro cocktail funk feel, with lilting string section et al. Then perhaps the standout pop track on the album, “Avalon or Someone Very Similar”, which is quite simply heartbreakingly beautiful: breezy, summery, 60s-inspired indie pop that makes you want to wear sneakers and fall in love all over again. Few can do this sort of thing as well, and as seemingly effortlessly, as Yo La Tengo.

Things take a darker, more ambient but no less compelling turn on “By Twos”, which is a sinister, slow-burn lounge groove vaguely reminiscent of Air (but in a good way). It’s back to more straight-up lo-fi garage business on “Nothing To Hide”, which is gloriously sprightly shoegaze pop, with wistful MBV-esque harmonies in the verse but a hammond organ-tinged, sock-hop chorus that keeps this tune well-grounded in the camp of having fun, and not taking one’s shoes too seriously. Again, very few can pull off this sound with such a lack of affectation and pretentiousness.

There are a couple of less inspired moments on the album, however, such as “Periodically Double of Triple”, which sees Yo La Tengo take a trip to the cabaret lounge for a bit of kitsch indie funk, which is amusing enough, but a bit “novelty song” as well, and not a track to which one feels compelled to return. There’s also a nod to the Motown sound on “If It’s True”, which again, is quite fun and playful, but also a bit throwaway, and possibly an indie crossover tendency which bands like Spoon, The Bees and Camera Obscura are tackling with a bit more purpose.

It can’t really be said, however, that there are any bad songs on the album, just some that are better than others. And the continual stylistic variation—which slacks off a little around the middle of the album for a slow wander across a plateau of trademark Yo La Tengo mellow gold—means that there is always something different just around the corner. “When It’s Dark” throws a bit of hayseed in the mix, with its lovely, sunny country-folk harmonies, “More Stars Than There Are In Heaven” traverses emotive post-rock territory, and “The Fireside” is an extended, if somewhat meandering, acoustic-ambient soundscape.

But the real kicker in the tail is undoubtedly the epic closing track, “And the Glitter Is Gone”, 15 minutes-plus of pure psychedelic instrumental drone-rock magic, which after the first 5 minutes seems like it might get a bit old, but by the 10-minute mark, you’re mesmerised by the waves of feedback-drenched guitar-scribbling, and by the 15th minute you’re ready for it to go on forever. Sheer genius and worth the price of purchase alone (or, in this case, the effort of writing a review).

The perpetual eclecticism makes it difficult to encompass this album as a whole, other than to say it’s very eclectic, but not obtuse, and enjoyably so. It might be a good album to put on when you’re not sure what you feel like listening to, as it traverses, with typical Yo La Tengo indie irreverence, such a broad range of popular music tendencies and motifs, it caters perfectly—as does the best indie rock—to an ironic, wavering and ambivalent consciousness. It might even make you put on that old cardigan again.