Amid all the glorious indie reunions, more recently there’s been some disturbing closings of great alt-acts who had never broken up. The biggest alt-band in the world, R.E.M., waved goodbye after Collapse Into Now (QRO review) with a greatest hits collection (QRO review). The always-reliable Sonic Youth (QRO live review) saw the divorce of singer/guitarists Kim Gordon & Thurston Moore, and now no one knows if the band will ever get back together. Thankfully, Georgia Hubley & Ira Kaplan are still together as husband & wife, and with James McNew Yo La Tengo is coming up on its twentieth decade of excellence with Fade.
After the somewhat more accessible Popular Songs (QRO review) in 2009 (ironically named, given the band’s appeal only in cult status, especially among music critics), Yo La Tengo’s profile rose, also thanks to the growing importance of touring in music and their impressive live shows (QRO review), including a bevy of possible covers. Fade starts with the same sort of alt-appeal in opener “Ohm”, a catchy and meandering piece, with its smiling ironic lyrics (“Sometimes the bad guys come out on top / Sometimes, the good guys lose”), that could widen their fan base the way “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song” did for another alt-veteran, The Flaming Lips (QRO spotlight on). The sweetly relaxed following “Is That Enough” is akin to a Beatles with strings song in enjoyableness.
However, from there Yo La Tengo largely shrink things, while becoming more intimate. Of course, this is Yo La Tengo, so their songcraft is expertly done from “Well You Better” on. Fade manages to be relaxed without being lazy, sweet without being treacly, beautiful without being boring, low-key without being unambitious. The pieces do blend together a bit, but it’s a wonderful blend.
With the end of acts like R.E.M. and Sonic Youth, ‘new’ veteran bands are slowly taking up the mantle of elder statesmen of alternative music, like masters of spectacle Flaming Lips, kings of alt-country Wilco (QRO live review, with Yo La Tengo opening), and the current biggest band in alt-rock, Radiohead (QRO live review). And put Yo La Tengo in there, as there is no Fade away.
Yo La Tengo – Ohm
