Yo La Tengo’s new album “I’m not afraid of you and I will beat your ass” has not only a badass title but also splendid music.
YLT is a trio consisting of Ira Kaplan (guitars/vocals/keyboards), Georgia Hubley (drums/vocals), and James McNew (bass and other).
YLT have been around since the early 1980s and have remained popular among the independent music crowd. “I’m not afraid of you and I will beat your ass” is their first album in three years.
The first track “Pass the Hatchet, I think I’m Goodkind” – one of the many unique titles – opens the album with 10 minutes of a lot of guitar and distortion.
The song is tolerable, but 10 minutes is just a bit much with lyrics I don’t understand and the same rhythm repeated.
That is not their only enormous song. “The Story of Yo La Tengo” is over 11 minutes long and takes a while to actually seem to start.
But once this song starts, it feels more rewarding to have waited out the beginning to hear the rest of the song.
It’s a beefy, potent, guitar solo-filled song.
Songs like “Beanbag Chair”remind me of Belle & Sebastian because of the trumpets and the soft singing that makes you feel a little miserable but only in a hip way.
“I feel like going home” is a striking song. It has a lot of violin, one of my favorite instruments to hear in a rock song.
The album changes moods constantly.
“I feel like going home” may be dark and a bit melancholy; “Mr. Tough” follows with an upbeat song that sounds like it was written in the ’70s.
Overall, this album is great because it changes with every song.
Each change is different and interesting, the album has many different feelings instead of just one.
All of these songs seem to be making the same point.
However, they seem to make the point by way of different directions with each song.