Yo La Tengo – Here To Fall
Our highest score today…
[Video][Website]
[5.78]
Mallory O’Donnell: Wherein YLT surprise me quite pleasantly with some nice, chewy contrast, but then take 5:46 to accomplish musically what a Steppenwolf or a Jethro Tull would have tossed together for a 35 second intro. Strictly middleweight.
[4]
Martin Skidmore: This is almost saved by some very fine violin, but the rock elements of the arrangement lack any drive and kind of sound like the band are just quietly jamming to no real purpose.
[3]
Anthony Easton: The worry is buried under fuzz, strings, noise, pianos, and some pretty amazing percussion, and it becomes this paranoid tale of erotic obsession; an update of “This House is a House of Trouble”, where the lyrics match the music.
[8]
John M. Cunningham: I’ve read that “Here to Fall” is the venerable indie-rock trio’s homage to psychedelic soul, but Ira Kaplan’s monotone drawl puts me in another, more contemporary frame of reference: Beck’s “Paper Tiger,” which is similarly decorated with lavish, swooping Technicolor strings. Problem is, the YLT song suffers in the comparison; as much fun as it is to hear the band inhabit this kind of arrangement, it’s missing a sense of dynamics, or at least a modicum of tension, that might help it feel a little less indulgent.
[5]
Anthony Miccio: Ira Kaplan’s mewl was perfect for post-punk Crazy Horse, but he’s become too much of a pussy to successfully project over this pre-punk pomp. Not that he’s really trying, and not that I’m sure I’d want him to.
[4]
Ian Mathers: As an occasional Yo La Tengo fan I’m not sure why I thought this was going to be awkward or bad — yes, churning shoegaze murk with strings isn’t what I might have guessed they’d offer up, and the last few albums have been pretty bad, but this is foreboding and tender and sweeping in precisely the right proportions.
[8]
Alfred Soto: Dig the swirly strings, wah-wah guitar, and electric piano — this goes some distance towards justifying the mild but welcome tinkering they’ve made in the embellishment department since 2006. Like their fortysomething pals in Sonic Youth, they’ve got a few things to say about sex and companionship, for which you’ll be amply rewarded if you’re inclined to listen through the din. For those under thirty, the grace with which Kaplan and co. deploy the embellishments speaks as loudly as sex and companionship.
[8]
Additional Scores
Chuck Eddy: [5]
Richard Swales: [7]
No one else wanted to review this one, huh? Is it because the musicians make no pretense to being sexy, unlike nearly everything else on this blog?
Yes, I nearly didn’t review this because one of them is a bit fat. He wears glasses too. We can’t tolerate that kind of thing in music.
I reviewed it, sort of: “Their unflagging consistency in not making me care one way or another about them for 23 years now has been impressive, I’ll give them that. And this carries on their streak just fine.” Which perhaps explain why William opted not to print my review.
Alfred, fiftysomething seems more accurate (for both Yo La Tengo and Sonic Youth, though Wikipedia isn’t giving any confirmation in regard to Yo La Tengo; but Ira’s always seemed about my age).