YO LA TENGO
I Am Not Afraid Of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
Matador
· A pulsing, melodic bass line, a buzz saw guitar and insistent drums, all punctuated by a desperate voice intoning about sliding down a waterslide – there’s a new Yo La Tengo album and all is right in the world.
I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass is Yo La Tengo’s 12th album if you don’t include the box set (Prisoners of Love) or their collection of covers played on WFMU (Is Murdering the Classics). Whereas the band’s two prior long-players, And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out and Summer Sun were fairly understated affairs, maintaining a mood for their duration, I Am Not Afraid of You is a more diverse affair, finding familiar Tengo sounds coming up against increased horns and piano, a staccato organ blast where a drone used to be. And when singer and guitarist Ira Kaplan kicks out the falsetto on "Mr. Tough," things are shaken up just enough to make even the most blasé fan sit up and take notice.
Over the past 20-odd years Kaplan, drummer Georgia Hubley and bass player James McNew have been embraced by serious fans for their encyclopedic knowledge of 20th century music of all genres and their willingness to try their hands at all of them. On I Am Not Afraid of You, the band brings to the foreground their sense of fun, starting with the title and concluding with "The Story Of Yo La Tango," the album’s final song and a joke on their frequently misunderstood name. With concert support often coming by way of stand-up comedians and Amy Poehler gracing the cover of one of their singles, Yo La Tengo’s sense of humour has long been apparent, but this may be its most overt manifestation on record.
That’s not to say this is joke rock – not by a long shot. I Am Not Afraid of You is filled with sweet songs like the soulful "Sometimes I Don’t Get You" and McNew’s gentle "Black Flowers," as well as rockers like "Watch Out For Me Ronnie" and album-opener "Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind." The piano-based instrumental "Daphnia" may be one of the band’s most beautifully atmospheric songs to date.
While I don’t think that Yo La Tengo really want to open a can of whoop-ass, with I Am Not Afraid of You they once again prove that they are the band to beat.
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