YO LA TENGO play the Phoenix February 9. See listing. Rating: NNNN
“Nothing ever stays the same/Nothing’s explained,” sing the three members of Yo La Tengo in unison on expansive opening track Ohm. That thought rings true for the beloved indie rock darlings, whose career has spanned nearly three decades. That said, for the most part Fade sounds like what we’ve come to expect from Yo La Tengo, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Perhaps their most personal album yet, it features the New Jersey band’s warm horn section, lush string arrangements, lovely vocal melodies by Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley, simple drumming and powerful circular guitar riffs. It reaches its most tender on Cornelia And Jane, where Hubley sweetly, melancholically, coos, “Nobody knows what’s lost in your eyes.”
Fade isn’t a drastic departure, but when you’ve polished your eclectic sound as well as Yo La Tengo has, that’s not always necessary.
Top track: Ohm
