Search - Yo La Tengo :: I Am Not Afraid of You & I Will Beat Your Ass

A Stunner

H. L. Morris | North Carolina | 09/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"WOW. Maybe the best record of the year. Maybe the best record of the 21st century. Incredible. All over the place, loose yet focused, sort of like THE WHITE ALBUM or WOWEE ZOWEE or EXILE ON MAIN ST. Easy to initially sort of write off (see the first basically unenthusiatic three-and-a-half star review). But it's really a grower, the more you listen the bigger it sounds. I can't decide if it tops I CAN HEAR THE HEART BEATING yet, but this one has an incredible pulse for sure. Messy, manic, melodic etc.



An important record, a great record, a ridiculously funny record (just like THE WHITE ABLUM and WOWEE ZOWEE).



Yo La Tengo = Best Band in the U.S.?



"

They are not afraid of you

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 09/12/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"
With a title like "I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass," it seems like an understatement to say that veteran indie-rock band Yo La Tengo are feeling confident.



And Yo La Tengo stick to what works after twenty years of indie-rocking, with a Velvet Underground vibe, solid pop tunes, noisy rockers and some wildly engaging jazzy experimentals. They know what they do well, and they do it as well as ever in their tenth album.



They take a bit of a risk in the opening number, "Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind," a sprawling eleven-minute track that noodles through jazzy drums and fuzzy guitars. It sounds like the Velvet Underground having a lazy jam session, until the point where the cycling guitars erupt into a giant riff snarl.



The experimentation diddles around through the rest of the album, but never so strongly as it does in "Pass the Hatchet." They dabble in various other kinds of pop music, sprinkled with country, blippy electropop, retro-sixties, freestyle jazz and sweeping, dreamier numbers, like the ones from their last original album.



The highlight is "Beanbag Chair," which is one of those instantly lovable pop songs -- jaunty piano, blasts of horn, mischievous lyrics, and daydreaming vocals. If you ever heard Yo La Tengo on the radio, this would be their big, big single.



Yo La Tengo have diddled around with all kinds of sounds for the past two decades, usually with lots of success. Just so long as they don't try freestyle harmonica or classical bagpipes, there's no reason to think that they won't continue to succeed at their experimentation.



But they give their music some fresh new twists this time around -- they include silky string arrangements by David Mansfield, lots more piano, and more horns than they were using in "Summer Sun," courtesy of drummer Georgia Hubley. It feels peppy, fun and energized, like these guys were enjoying themselves just making every song.



Frontman Ira Kaplan shows his range in these songs, crooning "You can never sleep enough/and your alarm is going off/you wake up and you can't pretend/the dream is just a dream again," in a smooth voice. He's joined by bassist James McNew's falsetto in "Mr. Tough," which is a bit of a shock for awhile, but which works out all right.



Yo La Tengo are not afraid of you, but you don't need to be afraid of their latest effort either -- "We Are Not Afraid of you and We Will Beat Your Ass" is an all-around solid little album. Nice work!"

Terrific indie record that runs a little long

Joseph Geni | Evanston, Illinois United States | 09/26/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Before I talk about how good this album is, I want to get my major gripe out of the way. This album is too long. 15 tracks, 77 minutes long, and it demonstrates that it is very hard, if not impossible, for a record that length to maintain any cohesion.



On the other hand, if you want cohesion, I don't think Yo La Tengo is your sort of band. After all, they once released a 40-somethin' minute "single" of covers of Sun Ra's "Nuclear War." This album is similarly eclectic. The opening track rocks out with heavy guitars over a 1-bar bass riff for fully ten minutes and it is brilliant. Following up is the piano-and-sax indie track Beanbag Chair, then the gentle "I Feel Like Going Home," then the romping "Mr. Tough" and its ridiculous indie-disco lyrics. The first part of the album builds up to "Daphnia," which is a gorgeous instrumental drifter that you should listen to right before going to sleep at 1am or later to get the proper effect.



And the album could well have ended right there. There's nothing wrong with the six tracks that follow, they're quite nice, I'm sure I'll listen to them more fully later and appreciate them better. There are just too many of them for it to be as an effective album as it would have with a shorter running length.



The ultimate point, however, is that this is quality music. Go get it."