Albums of the Year # 42 Yo La Tengo - There's a Riot Going On

Yo La Tengo batted out yet another fine album in March, just as you'd expect them to. Here's what I wrote:

Yo La Tengo are an American Indie institution. You just need to go to Pitchfork, the self-appointed guardians of such things to read the revered and sacred tones that they're always written about in. They form something of a holy trinity in Indie circles in this respect alongside Sonic Youth and Pavement. 

And they've outlasted both of their somewhat more successful and high profiles co-tribunes. There's A Riot Going On, just out is their fifteenth album since they first emerged from Hoboken, New York, way back in 1984. And it's a peach. I'm not sufficiently well-versed with all of their back catalogue to place it with any authority among their body of work, but it's an assured and glowing object in itself, remarkable for a band in its fourth decade as a working unit.

They fit snugly of course in line in the list of alternative New York of guitar bands. Velvet Underground, Television and The Feelies most obviously and the traces of all of them are evident on There's A Riot Going On. But they're also huge fans of The Kinks and The Lovin' Spoonful and the sheer craft and loving warmth of their songwriting is there too as of course is the band's own considerable legacy. There are also moments where the trio just revel in the beauty of quiet ambient electric sound, reverberation and echo. There's an understanding of the sheer beauty of Jazz here too, very unusual considering the circles they mix in. In many ways they were always the most sensitive band of their generation. They would have made great beatniks.

You can watch them playing songs from the new record in the clip above in a gig curated by Pitchfork. Its a concert that really underlines the small homey charm of the band, something they've never allowed themselves to lose. Leader Ira Kaplan still dresses in the definitive Jonathan Richman uniform, hooped shirts, jeans, trainers. The band still play as if they're in their front room.

The fact that the album is called There's A Riot Going On, (a steal from Sly Stone's crowning moment of course), while the record itself bears closer resemblance to the Sea of Tranquility than a riot is no accident of course. There's an enormous storm going on out there in the world at the minute of course. Yo La Tengo's response is a smart one. Acknowledgement with the naming of the record, but otherwise a retreat to the beauty within. Altogether a splendid album and gift.