With a new album entitled I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass, what exactly do the indie rock veterans Yo La Tengo wish to say? Or sing, rather? Perhaps hoping to break from the album's subdued and poorly received predecessor, Summer Sun, the trio of Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew want to announce that their new album is anything but predictable.
While it makes a bold statement indeed, don't let the album's jarring title scare you away. With arrangements and instrumentals recalling a variety of sounds from the last 50 years of rock and R&B, Yo La Tengo's new release is an artistically crafted and wonderfully uninhibited music medley. The listening experience is punctuated by moments of funky pop, sultry jazz and big band soul. Any single song seamlessly incorporates sounds from a variety of diverse origins that come together in unlikely combinations and jive surprisingly well. The overall effect is a 77-minute performance that is enjoyable, spontaneous and imaginative.
Contributing to the record's eclectic appeal is the trio's incorporation of a diverse array of instruments. After a 10-minute epic guitar intro that grounds the album in classic rock, the bouncy bah-bah-bah of a trombone sounds off the catchy ditty "Beanbag Chair." Delicate piano strains and a sweetly singing violin create dreamy sentimentality in the ballad "I Feel Like Going Home." Trumpet, saxophone, cowbell and jazz piano synchronize to create the foot-tapping, snap-happy soul behind "Mr. Tough." The hypnotic beat of bongo drums, eerie organ riffs and chanting vocals lend a trance-like quality to "Daphnia."
The greatness of I Am Not Afraid is not just rooted in its artistic elasticity, but in its ability to stand as an album and not just a series of random experiments. While each track seems to echo a vibe from the band's history or from a memorable musical era, the album manages to avoid sounding like your iTunes library on shuffle or your friend's mix tape that cues both country and Kanye.
You won't be lured back by the album's standout lyrics but by the music's overall effect. Kaplan's vocals are whispery, hazy, overlapping and at times, incomprehensible. The effect is a synthesis of sound, not a distinct separation of vocals and band. While lyric segments run in catchy and memorable loops here and there, Kaplan uses his voice to accentuate the album's versatility. In "Watch Out for Me Ronnie," Kaplan screeches through a buzzing mic to create the effect of a '50s sock-hop. In "Sometimes I Don't Get You," his vocals reverberate freely, evoking a whimsical quality.
Yo La Tengo's new release delivers far more than the ass-beating it promises. The title puzzles initially, but ultimately it speaks to the group's fearless and dazzling musical ingenuity.
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