By: Ryan Ruff Smith
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Why? - Photo by Ryan Smith
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Yo La Tengo released their first full-length album Ride The Tiger in 1986, which means that this year marks their 20th anniversary. And what better way to celebrate than releasing what may be the best album of their career? Their new album, the unforgettably titled I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass, marks a return to eclecticism after two albums of understated sameness and proves that the band can do pretty much anything. Needless to say, this was a very exciting time to catch them on tour.
They were preceded by Why?, a band known for their association with the Anticon Label – a collective of quirky underground hip-hop groups. Why? was originally the solo work of mastermind Yoni Wolf, but now includes guitarist/keyboardist Doug McDiarmid and drummer Josiah Wolf as permanent members. The trio was dizzying to watch – on most of the songs Josiah Wolf played drums and vibraphone at the same time, a drum stick in one hand and a mallet in the other. In addition to his sampler, Yoni also had a bass drum, snare, and cymbal set up next to his mic and often contributed additional rhythms while singing. The music was really closer to psychedelic folk-rock than hip-hop, apart from the wordy lyrics and fast-paced cadences of Yoni. But rather than delivering his lyrics in the spoken-word fashion of most rap, Yoni fastened sing-song melodies and complex rhythms to his abstract musings. The results were extremely effective, sounding perhaps like Beck would have sounded if he had taken his ideas from Mellow Gold to the extreme. But the restless, constantly shifting arrangements of their songs insured that Why? sounded like no one but themselves.
After the set break, the curtain rose and the mighty Yo La Tengo took the stage. The trio is probably the least trendy, most ordinary looking group of rockers I have ever seen. Guitarist/keyboardist Ira Kaplan does have a good fashion sense, but in a conservative way – more H&M than Urban Outfitters or Ragstock. Any one of them looks like they could just be a friend's parent, a teacher, or a co-worker. And they even started their set unassumingly, with the gentle "My Heart's Reflection" from their 1995 album Eletctr-O-Pura.
But they got serious quickly as Kaplan started to build up guitar loops that blossomed into "The Story of Yo La Tango," the epic jam that closes the new album. As the tension began to build, a fight broke out in the crowd right in front of me. Apparently some girl started biting people, and as various bystanders tried to subdue her, she started kicking and throwing punches (perhaps she took Yo La Tengo's new album title too seriously?). After a surprisingly long delay, a First Ave. staff member worked his way into the crowd and escorted her away. This was the most extreme example, but there was a really strange energy in the crowd for the entire show. Perhaps my heightened pheromone count had something to do with it, but the repetitious slow build of the rest of the song (it's long enough that this all happened in the middle of one song) started to feel positively electric.
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Georgia Hubley of Yo La Tengo - Photo by Smith
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When they reached its conclusion, Kaplan moved over to an organ and bassist James McNew sat down at an extra drum set to add shaker and snare to Georgia Hubley’s full kit drumming for fan favorite "Autumn Sweater." A highlight from their classic 1997 album I Can Feel the Heart Beating as One, it is one of Yo La Tengo's best songs, and its unconventional instrumentation is the perfect example of their try-anything aesthetic.
They then played through a number of the more straightforward songs from Beat Your Ass, highlights of which included the ebullient single "Beanbag Chair" and the playful white soul of "Mr. Tough." As thoroughly enjoyable as this portion of the program was, the show really got off the ground when the band returned to harder rocking, long-form material, starting with the Beat Your Ass opening track, "Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind." Anchored by an endlessly repetitive fuzz bass line by McNew and Hubley's muscular, funky drumming, the song was essentially a vehicle for Kaplan to stretch out on guitar. In most cases I would have been annoyed by this sort of indulgence, but Kaplan is no ordinary guitarist. Rather than flashy soloing, his playing focused on constant tension and release. Building on influences like Sonic Youth and the more electric side of the Velvet Underground (read: White Light/White Heat), but with a personality all his own, Kaplan tirelessly slipped in and out of the beat, refuting his own lyrical phrases with bursts of noise and then reclaiming control again just as quickly.
This built to an extreme and climaxed with him trashing about in front of his amplifier, eliciting fitful spurts of feedback and waving his guitar around like some sort of primal sonic divining rod. It was one of those rare concert moments when time is altered and the band starts communicating on an entirely different level. The distractions of the audience drifted away, and my attention was focused entirely on the stage. And then the song started to come to a close; Kaplan looped a wave of feedback and switched guitars, stood there for a moment basking in the swirling noise, and then launched immediately into the raw, punky "Watch Out For Me Ronnie" from the new album. The sudden switch from hypnotizing repetition to ragged Stones-y rock was jarring, and absolutely invigorating. One of my least favorite songs from the new album became the unexpected highlight of the show, and I was thoroughly convinced that Yo La Tengo could actually do anything.
After a couple more stunning extended pieces ("Deeper into Movies" and "Blue Line Swinger"), the band graciously thanked the audience and left the stage, with the crowd absolutely demanding an encore. They returned to play three more songs, the highlight of which was a rollicking cover of Bob Dylan's "I Wanna Be Your Lover" with assistance from the guys from Why?. "Another band might think it's too obvious to play a Dylan cover in Minnesota," Kaplan joked, "But we are not that band." Turns out the dude can nail early electric-era Dylan blues-rock, too. If he feels like it.
And so, one encore was not enough. The crowd called them back to the stage again for three more songs. They started out with an upbeat Neil Young cover, but then Georgia came out from behind the drums and the trio did two absolutely gorgeous understated acoustic tunes in three part harmony.
I left the venue carrying the warmth of their send-off serenade and convinced that they are absolutely the most versatile band in the world right now. Hopefully their recent return to form means that we have plenty more to look forward to. Yo La Tengo, please, beat my ass again soon.
Setlist:
1. My Heart’s Reflection
2. The Story of Yo La Tango
3. Autumn Sweater
4. I Should’ve Known Better
5. The Race is On Again
6. Beanbag Chair
7. Tired Hippo
8. Mr. Tough
9. The Weakest Part
10. I Feel Like Going Home
11. (Unknown – Loud distortion, Georgia on vocals)
12. Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind
13. Watch Out For Me, Ronnie
14. Deeper Into Movies
15. Blue Line Swinger
Encore:
16. The Summer
17. I Wanna Be Your Lover (Bob Dylan)
18. Always Something
Second Encore:
19. For the Turnstiles (Neil Young)
20. Can’t Forget
21. Somebody’s in Love (Sun Ra)
Location Info:
First Avenue
Artist Info: Why?, Yo La Tengo
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