Review by Marilee Breitkreutz
Photography by Rodney Gitzel
Calling a Yo La Tengo show a 'sonic experience,' though it would
be slightly melodramatic, would not be inaccurate. Hypnotic stretches
of their trademark sound -- waves of meticulously controlled feedback
washing over moody keyboards and crashing drums -- give way in
the next song to a pure, simple melody. Songs like "Sugarcube"
and "Autumn Sweater" confirm Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan
and James McNew as indie-pop virtuosos; mellow and meditative
songs such as "Blue Line Swinger" and "Shadows"
lull the crowd into pensive bliss, and more upbeat tracks like
"Double Dare" and the newer "Deeper into Movies"
have the audience bouncing. Playing quite a few songs from their
latest release, I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, the
band also lays out an impressive smorgasbord of tracks from previous
albums. The performance is marred only by the unfortunate fact
that Georgia is on drum duty all night and her beautiful vocals
are hampered either by poor sound or, more likely, by the difficulty
involved in singing and playing the drums at the same time.
However, the Starfish Room audience is delighted and calls the
band back for two encores before the show is over. Afterwards,
the band sticks around onstage to chat with fans, well-wishers
and hangers-on. Ira jumps off of the stage to talk to a fan who
has a question about guitar gear, and James and Georgia are busy
handing out autographs and smiles. Exceedingly accessible, throughout
the show the band had interacted with the audience by taking requests
and generally making us feel like we were not just fans, but guests
at a Yo La Tengo rehearsal session. Then they staggered us with
their incredible creativity, making us happy that we had only
had to pay fifteen bucks to see them at work.
Certainly Yo La Tengo have improved musically since back in 1985, when John Petric of The Columbus Dispatch gave one of their first 7" releases the "AAA rating -- awful, awful, awful." Now many observers are touting them as the next pop sensations. What they certainly are is one of the most interesting and unpretentious bands around, and the perfect antidote for image-oriented-pop-sodden ears.
Index |
Search |
E-mail |
Info |
Copyright
Considering copying some of the images from this story?
Please read this first. Thanks.