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Rating: Sick Boy stated in a memorable passage of Trainspotting: "first you have it and then you lose it".
A constant, there's nothing you can do about it, a theorem in which the vast majority of artistic careers assumes the ruthless form of a parabola where every rise is followed by an inevitable decline..
And that's what it seemed like for Yo La Tengo to me, for whom the last two albums had taken on the tired and calm form and only superficially exciting feel of the "old" album.. that's why the new album sounds even more incredible, not only a wonderful exception that confirms (?) the rule, but also probably the best work ever produced by Yo La Tengo. They return to thrill with electricity, as immediately confirmed by the surprising opening of "pass the hatchet", which introduces yet another wonderful trip with nine minutes of reverberated and hypnotic psychedelic ride. But also, and above all, they demonstrate an intelligence and an awareness with few equals, in being conscious that what they had lately undertaken was nothing but their more stagnant version.
That is why "I'm not afraid of you and I will kick your ass" takes the form of a reasoning on their own journey, on their own expression, on what has distinguished their being musicians and artists. Reasoning, mind you, not a simple summary of their career, but an elaboration on the same. Which translates into a renewed humility, not trying to take new paths that perhaps at this point will never be, but rather being themselves 100% with a huge dose of irony (which only those who are capable of accepting their own limits can have), and at the same time with a capacity to move, to touch the very substance of their musical expression (that intimistic and dilated evocation that has always distinguished them), of which they had never proven so theoremically.
This is therefore an exceptional album because in a completely anachronistic way it reaffirms the aesthetic importance of that total expressive freedom which has been the philosophical soul (musically) of punk (and thus of Indie), demonstrating that precisely in the name of this freedom any now codified language can still rise to new vital energy. One could say, in strictly historical/musical terms, that for the first time the noisemaking of the most ambiguous and "east coast" evolutionary line of American psychedelia meets none other than the imaginative arrangements of swingin' London, filtered by that jingle jangle sensitivity that from the Byrds passed through R.E.M.
But it would be decidedly reductive to make it a matter of genres when talking about Yo La Tengo. What counts is that they are themselves to the nth degree, only more mature, rather than older.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
02 Beanbag Chair (03:02)
I have spent my life trying to understand
Just how my life lead to where I am
But it leaves a bitter taste
And it feels like such a waste
I am so totally vague
Betray the dark one, see if I care
I loved you when I was young
But no more
So burn down the fireman's fair
Memory plays its tricks on me
In my mind's eye, I claim to see
I'm losing every race I run
Making misery out of fun
So bulldoze the new road they're driving
Slash the beanbag chair
You held me for so very long
But no more
So burn down the fireman's fair
How many type of things do we think we need?
But that doesn't make them true
I'm a little afraid I'm falling far and free
I'll leave that up to you
That's up to you
So won't you find me totally vague
A drain has died, see if I care
I loved you when I was young
But no more
So burn down the fireman's fair
Fireman's fair
Burn down the fireman's fair
Fireman's fair
Burn down the fireman's fair
04 Mr. Tough (04:05)
Hey Mr. Tough
Don't you think we've suffered enough?
Why don't you meet me on the dancefloor
When it's time-to-time time?
And if you need to tell me something once
You won't have to say it twice
And if you ask for a nickel
I'm gonna hand you a dime
And we'll forget about our problems at home
For a little while
And leave our worries in the corner
Leave them in a big big pile
Pretend everything can be alright
Hey Mrs. Blue
Time to think of something new
We pause from spinning our hits
The old soft shoe
And if you wanna lose the rest of the night
There's nothing better I have to do
And if I tell you something
You won't have to ask if it's true
And we'll forget about our problems at home
For a little while
And leave our worries in the corner
Leave them in a big big pile
Pretend everything can be alright
Alone and uptight
On a Saturday night
?? by the room
I'm hiding in a crowded party
The records playing
For just me and you
Hey Mr. Tough
Don't you think we've suffered enough?
Why don't you meet me on the dancefloor
When it's time-to-find-it time?
And if you need to tell me something once
You won't have to say it twice
And if you ask for a nickel
I'm gonna hand you a dime
And we'll forget about our problems at home
For a little while
And leave our worries in the corner
Leave them in a big big pile
Pretend everything can be alright
Pretend everything can be alright
Pretend everything can be alright
05 Black Flowers (04:28)
You can take what you can get
I forgive but I forget
You can never sleep enough
And your alarm is going off
You wake up and you can't pretend
A dream was just a dream again
Won't you dry your eyes?
But it doesn't matter anymore
You did just what you did before
Until you realize the words
Are going on and on and on
You can dig your grave in joy
When you find the real McCoy
When some pretty boys with skinny ties
With black flowers and Valentines
Try to take you home
Do you recognize that I
Have stopped before you get too high
On your own, surprise
Singing la la la la
You want it, you got it
You can't take it home
You got a long way to go
I wait forever to say that you will
You have a heart to show, ohh
Well you don't have to stay inside
Don't have to run, don't have to hide
Come dry your eyes
You know you can always change your mind
Maybe I will too in time
Once we understand
No one understands at all
Singing la la la la
Singing la la la la
07 The Room Got Heavy (05:10)
the room got heavy
with a lamppost looming
we were driving in a circle
somewhere near the station
shoot me in the bushes
my eyes aren't focused
??
parsing through the tunnel
??
summer after dark
??
to a party invitation
and the room got heavy
but only for a minute
the barroom was wearing thin
ohh
the room got heavy
all the concrete in the air
had to park around the corner
at the yellow light blinking
she said "i wouldn't do that"
but we all know that she did
from the look on her face
her arms slightly folded
and he headed for the door
reach across the floor
hands in my pocket
my eyes aren't focused
and the room got heavy
but only for a minute
while we were waiting for you
ohh
ohh
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