I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One

by

Yo La Tengo

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How much do I love this record, well let me count the ways:

1. I love it because it moves me with its beauty and magnificence. Each song here is wonderful. Each has its own mood, its own vibe, and each goes in a slightly different direction than all the others. For example, Moby Octopad, a song about being "locked in a kiss" with the one you love and thus the ability you both have to kind of shut the world out, has a sustained sort of bass driven funk groove. The sound is blissfull, which perfectly fits the song's subject matter; the song that follows, Sugarcube, is also a love song, in the sense that it is about pledging one's all to one's loved one, about being what they want you to be, and it is delivered with such power as a melodic guitar song, yet with a great warmth to it. Some songs here are soft and subtle; others, like Spec Bebop is a high energy instrumental jam. And some, like Autumn Sweater (a Yo La Tengo classic), Deeper Into Movies, and The Lie and How We Told It are simply blissfully gorgeous. Ultimately, though, each song comes together with each other song here and blend together forming an intact and complete whole.

2. I love it because it holds true to its ideals. Yo La Tengo have never sold out, nor have they ever come close to doing so. They simply seek to create, each time anew. Here they have, and in a multitude of ways. In fact, if you get a chance to view the very funny video to the song Sugarcube, one which mocks, a la Spinal Tap the music industry's rock cliches, you can see that this is a band that is all about music over image, substance over superficiality; in fact, while I have been a fan of this group since their first recording, it was, ironically this video, and one played on MTV of all places (on 120 Minutes) that reminded me of how worthwhile this band is and got me back to listening to them on a regular basis

3. I love it because it encompasses a history of indie rock as well as of mainstream rock's more critically acclaimed moments, as for instance in their garage punked out version of the Beach Boy's Little Honda. Songs like Damage and the alt.countrified One PM Again are simply rich in musical and lyrical signifiers; you can hear in these and other songs and their arrangements a wide variety of influences, from the Velvet Underground to various "No Wave" bands of the early 80s to bands like Ride, Lush, Spacemen 3, My Bloody Valentine, and many many others, but without being derivative in any way. You can also hear Kinks and Beatle and even Bert Bacharach influences, though these are subtle. In short, what you get here is great music played by musicians with an encyclopedic knowledge of rock history.

4. I love it because it comes from Yo La Tengo. I've now seen them live around 8 or 9 times, and have enjoyed each performance. I have nothing but respect and admiration for them and everything they stand for.

5. I love it because it should be loved. It's too good not to.

3 1/2

Worthy of nearly all it's indie credibility, the seminal underground experimental pop act put forth another lengthy disc full of quirky charm and surprising eclecticism with their highly esteemed I can hear..., but seems to me this particular outing is just another deposit into an adept lo-fi bands repertoire, no more, no less. With their refined approach at nailing a catchy melody without being too obnoxious about it, Yo La Tengo prove worthy in multiple genre attempts with this musical stew of alt-rock jams. The writing is on point, and the selections remain worthy of it's modern cult classic status as earned, but anyone not directly peering into the specific time period this came out, in the context of this band's career, may find an album strangely lacking of downright amazing material. Most songs are good, quite good, though few are really great. As per usual, interesting, usually borrowed melodies are played beyond an apparent scope intended for some tracks, overstaying their welcome in distorted repetition, as competent and catchy they may be.