Yo La Tengo - This Stupid World (2023)

I thought I'd kick off this little review site with a review of one of my all-time favorite bands, and a very nostalgic band for me, good ol' Yo La Tengo. I'll probably go ahead and review their entire discography at some point, but let's start with their new album that released earlier this year. As a firm believer in the idea that the world is getting stupider all the time and someone who is quite afraid to even imagine what things will be like in another 10-20 years, I'm a fan of the title. And I have to confess something: I have seldom paid much attention to Yo La Tengo's lyrics, but this makes me want to.

The album gets off to a great start with a nice beat, some fat, droney noise, and Ira and Georgia singing together...you know how they roll. The lyrics to "Sinatra Drive Breakdown" make me wish I knew more about Georgia and Ira's relationship, but at the same time they don't leave me depressed thinking it's another Sonic Youth situation that is bound to implode. I've always loved that they're a couple and write and sing such amazing songs together and probably leave each other cryptic messages in their songs that only they understand, and I hope that continues until they decide to retire.

YLT has a strange knack for writing songs that I want to hear over and over and over again, but that don't become horrible earworms once I want to move on to something else. How do they do that?? I used to listen to "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House" probably around 20 times in a row while cruising west down the 101 to go visit some refugees. The fourth track on this album, "Aselestine," will definitely be another one of these and I highly recommend you give it a listen if you hear nothing else from the album.

To sum up, I gotta be honest: This album didn't grab me by the ears with almost every song the way most of their earlier albums do, in these later years they are leaning a bit more into random, experimental, and noisy stuff even than before, but I like them like this even though most of it doesn't hit me the same as their old stuff. I'm still going to want to see what they're doing for the rest of their careers. Thanks for more lovely music, YLT!

Highlights: Aselestine, Apology Letter, This Stupid World, Miles Away