Yo La Tengo

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YO LA TENGO

Formed: 1984, Hoboken, New Jersey

Members: Georgia Hubley, drums, vocals; Ira Kaplan, guitar, vocals; Mike Lewis, bass; James McNew, bass, vocals; Dave Schramm, guitar

Genre: Rock

Best-selling album since 1990: And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (2000)

Hit songs since 1990: "From a Motel Six," "Tom Courtenay," "Sugarcube"

Yo La Tengo is composed of enthusiastic rock fans. But rather than shamelessly ape the styles of their favorite bands, they have translated their reverence for the genre into a unique and transcendent sound. A married couple, Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley, formed the band in the mid-1980s during Kaplan's tenure as a rock journalist. They released a series of stylistically sprawling albums, eventually hitting their stride in the early 1990s after adding a permanent bassist, James McNew. On the albums May I Sing with Me (1992) and Painful (1993), they perfected a dreamy style of songcraft marked by tender, breathy vocals and Kaplan's frenzied bursts of guitar noise. This engaging sound earned them a reputation with fans and critics as one of America's finest independent rock bands.

Guitarist Kaplan and drummer Hubley began to play music together in the basement of Maxwell's, a legendary venue in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. A true rock and roll obsessive, Kaplan wrote articles for Spin magazine and worked as a sound man at Maxwell's. The pair focused on playing covers, learning the songs of their favorite bands, obscure or otherwise, from throughout the rock era. In a further display of fandom, they named the band Yo La Tengo (Spanish for "I got it!"), a reference to the former New York Mets outfielder Richie Ashburn, who would shout the phrase while diving for fly balls.

After recruiting guitarist Dave Schramm and bassist Mike Lewis, the band recorded and released Ride the Tiger (1986), a quiet affair that displays their love of British Invasion pop and American folk music. While featuring Kaplan's gift for melody and Hubley's bracing vocals, the album only hints at the more experimental and potent direction of their later work. Schramm and Lewis left the band shortly after the release of the record, and Kaplan and Hubley worked with a rotating cast of musicians for the next several years. New Wave Hot Dogs (1987) and President Yo La Tengo (1989) found Kaplan embracing a noisy but refined style of guitar playing that was aggressive but still impressively tuneful, whereas Hubley evolved into a solid and commanding drummer. The band began to play with extremes, with songs like the droning "Barnaby, Hardly Working" and "The Evil That Men Do" exploring the power of matching shocking noise with near silence.

Yo La Tengo opened the 1990s with Fakebook (1990), a folky album recorded with Schramm. Mostly comprised of covers, the record functions as a tour through their favorite songs, marked by the pristine beauty of "Yellow Sarong" and "Speeding Motorcycle." The album strips away the electric noise of their previous two releases, revealing the increasingly gorgeous combination of Kaplan's deadpan singing and Hubley's ethereal vocals, which became just as important to the band's sonic design as their unique instrumentation.

May I Sing with Me (1992) proved to be the pivotal Yo La Tengo album, returning to the electric textures of President Yo La Tengo with invigorating results. Bassist James
McNew joined the band prior to recording, solidifying the band's rhythm section and adding expressive background vocals. The collection exhibits their knack for balancing catchy, uptempo rockers ("Upside Down") with blistering soundscapes ("Mushroom Cloud of Hiss"). With vivid sounds and soothing textures, May I Sing with Me provided the first clear look at the Yo La Tengo to come.

Painful (1993) was the band's first true masterpiece, a startling collection of strangely beautiful songs that pushed the limits of sonic texture and experimentation. The album is influenced by the U.K.-based shoegazer sound, in which layers of guitar noise are used to create slow, dreamy compositions. Specifically, Kaplan employs jagged, barbed guitar lines in the context of gentle pop melodies to forge a soothing, expansive sound. The album opens with the slowly awakening "Big Day Coming," which is revisited later in the album as a crushing, keyboard-driven anthem. Simple rockers like "From a Motel Six" are launched straight into the sky by Kaplan's propulsive guitar, but the band also recognizes the power of holding back completely, such as on the whispered romantic ballad "Nowhere Near."

Electr-O-Pura (1995) continues the sonic strides of Painful, but with more forays into stylistic eclecticism. The nervy drone of "Decora" and the epic "Blue Line Swinger" provide sonic thrills, but the band also grips the soul with the mournful country-tinged "Pablo and Andrea" and the incandescent "Don't Say a Word." Each song on the album is completely different, the only common feature being the band's mastery of creating patterns of sound. Thus, the shimmering pop of "Tom Courtenay" and the spastic rock of "Straight Down to the Bitter End" feel natural together. The band's vision fosters a wide array of possibilities.

The band continued to reach in all directions on I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One (1997). The band is all over the map, tackling giddy rockers ("Sugarcube"), psychedelic noise workouts ("Deeper into Movies"), bossa nova ("Center of Gravity"), and classic pop ("My Little Corner of the World"). Subtlety is key, as evidenced by the organic drone of "Autumn Sweater," which plays like a darkly romantic mystery ("We could slip away / Oh wouldn't that be better? / Leave with nothing to say / And you in your autumn sweater"). The sound is deep and cinematic, culminating in "We're an American Band," an awe-inspiring track with Kaplan and Hubley singing languorously over a gentle wave of guitars that build to a perfect swirling storm.

The calm moments that mark Heart take over completely on And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (2000), the band's most enigmatic work. Each track on the album uses subtle, layered instrumentation to create an ambient mood. The opening track, "Everyday," employs the Yo La Tengo hallmarks of droning keyboards, guitar noise, and ethereal vocals to create an otherworldly dirge. The album is also intensely romantic, a testament to not only Kaplan and Hubley's enduring marriage but also their unceasing love of rock music. "Our Way to Fall" and "You Can Have It All" are dense love songs for the new century that address the complexity of relationships and revel in their possibilities. They show their sense of humor on the nimble samba "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House" and employ guitar fuzz on the catchy, comfortable rocker "Cherry Chapstick."

Yo La Tengo titled their 1998 collection of B-sides and outtakes Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo. The title might seem arrogant, but it is a pithy description of how the band operates. They possess the good taste of connoisseurs but also understand that the best rock possesses a warmth and spirit that can only come from the soul. This combination of smarts and passion makes their music unforgettable and indispensable.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Ride the Tiger (Matador, 1986); New Wave Hot Dogs (Coyote, 1987); President Yo La Tengo (Coyote, 1989); Fakebook (Bar/None, 1990); May I Sing with Me (Alias, 1992); Painful (Matador, 1993); Electr-O-Pura (Matador, 1995); I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One (Matador, 1997); Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo (Matador, 1998); And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (Matador, 2000).