This stupid world – it’s killing me / This stupid world – is all we have

What can you say about a band who, for the better part of 40 years has been a driving force in American independent rock and roll and, along with contemporaries like Sonic Youth and Dinosaur, Jr, have become the model for the fuzz and feedback saturated indie rock of the last few decades? I know that was a mouthful, but that’s just to say that the Hoboken-based band, Yo La Tengo isn’t just an institution. Their newest album, this year’s This Stupid World, may be one of their best – and that’s saying something as they’ve released 17 full-length albums since 1986.

On a personal note, I hadn’t seen Yo La Tengo in years – so many that I can’t even recall which one, in fact – but I do remember when it all started with the album Electr-O-Pura which I was turned on to back in college. So I was more than thrilled to have the chance to see them again back Sunday night at a sold-out, shoulder-to-shoulder packed 9:30 Club.

As the lights dimmed and the trio of Ira Kaplan (guitar/vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums/vocals), and James McNew (bass/vocals) started on immediate on that grooving drum and bass line that always makes me think of a road or highway that keeps stretching out beyond the horizon, accented by the fuzzy and disjointed guitar lines as Kaplan sings, Your eyes, your love / Until we all break, until we all break, the refrain on “Sinatra Drive Breakdown,” the single from the new album, This Stupid World. It’s a sound that you can easily find yourself lost inside. Something that the best Yo La Tengo songs have a way of doing.

Each song seems built from the ground up – steady drums or bass with this foundation that’s then layered by keyboards or guitar and then accentuated by these lines of poetry.

Reaching back to 1990’s Fakebook, the band played “Can’t Forget,” a beautiful pop number that highlights the harmonies between Hubley and Kaplan. 

“Man, it’s been a while. I mean a real long time since we’ve been here,” Ira Kaplan told the crowd. Although they were here to promote the new record, it was clear Yo La Tengo would be pulling from their vast catalog, including the fun “Periodically Double or Triple” which, as Kaplan paused the song to say, “before we continue, the next line of the song is one I’m not 100% proud of… it’s was written in a moment of bravado… on the other hand, it’s just a song. Apologies for what’s about to follow” before singing I never wear a helmet when I’m riding my bike to laughs from the club.

Watch the official video for “Sinatra Drive Breakdown” on YouTube:

Some of the best songs this trio has written is on the new album, including the aching “Apology Letter,” sung in the only way Kaplan can overtop of that bed of reverb-drenched guitar.

The band left the stage for an intermission before coming back for a second set, kicking things back into gear with the title track from the new album – a perfect start with a thumping beat and washes of distortion and feedback as the three sing together Staring in disbelief / Out of body, out of place / Blood on your fingers, but we’re carefree / Can’t hear a word you say / Reach for the skies / Better not be none, and none will be. A meditation on the state of the world, perhaps, but definitely a powerful statement.

Older songs like “From a Motel 6” and “Sugarcube” (a personal fave) were as fresh and fun as ever with replete with guitar freak outs, but definitely one of the highlights of the evening was seeing Ira Kaplan flail about on the keyboard during “Sudden Organ” as Georgia and James kept ahold of the ship while the stage seemed to rock back and forth on the waves of organ sounds.   

And these three were just as charming as Ira told a story of being backstage and “remembering some of the amazing things that has happened here. Like the night a guy peed off the balcony at a Dark Star Orchestra show and we couldn’t remember who that guy was.” As they continued, he said, “So we looked it up and the part of the story we had forgotten was that he was a politician from the great state of New Jersey. So very proud.”

Yo La Tengo returned for a few covers, including Adam and the Ants’ “Antmusic,” capping off a brilliant evening. The band continues its tour of This Stupid World and it’s a show not to miss.

The setlists included:

Set One

Sinatra Drive Breakdown
Tonight’s Episode
Can’t Forget
Aselestine
Periodically Double or Triple
I’ll Be Around
I Feel Like Going Home
Apology Letter
Miles Away

Set Two

This Stupid World
From a Motel 6
Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad
Mr. Tough
Fallout
Sudden Organ
Sugarcube
Decora
Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind

Encore:
Antmusic (Adam and the Ants cover)
This Is Where I Belong (The Kinks cover)
You Can Have It All (George McCrae cover)

Here are more photos of Yo La Tengo performing at the 9:30 Club on Sunday, March 19, 2023. All photos copyright David LaMason.