Review: Yo La Tengo, Fade

So I'll admit: I’ve never listened to Yo La Tengo. Fade is the first album I’ve ever heard from the band. And maybe that doesn’t make me qualified to review it. But by golly, I’m going to do it. Because this is a great album. According to Wikipedia, this is their 13th full length album, and on Spotify they’ve got even more than that. I couldn’t spend enough time with all their older music to make an informed decision on whether this album is good or not. So go ahead and put an asterisk next to my review if you like. But as a new fan, I’m loving this album.

The thing about Fade is that it fits right where it’s supposed to. It’s winter. It’s January, even. It’s freezing cold out. And somehow, the opening of “Ohm” and its nearly seven-minute garage rock tune fits the time just perfectly. It’s a soundtrack to the times. Now maybe I’m feeling that way because these guys are from Hoboken, New Jersey and I’m originally from hop skip and jump, Jersey. (I live on the river that separates PA from New Jersey.) But from that stunning intro, we’re brought into a classic sound mixed with soft vocal stylings from all the members, not just one. The harmonies mix gently with the next track “Is That Enough”, and give Yo La Tengo this dreamy, noise pop that has a twinge of indie rock invested in it.

It’s just the right amount of everything. Not too much rock, not too much ambient, and not too much pop. “Well You Better” has this simplistic keyboard line that infiltrates the entire song, mixed with a fast drum pattern, giving it this swirling, fun beat. It’s a catchy track, which is interesting because it leads right into a hunk of feedback with “Paddle Forward” before bringing the catchiness back. Fade is all over the place, but all the pieces feel like they fit together to create a genre-bending album of great proportion. 

“I’ll Be Around” is probably my favorite track here (a Spinners cover, go figure), with the heavy reverb and feedback mixed with elegant finger-picking over simple lyrics and imagery. It almost borders on a folk sound. What does interest me is where they got the inspiration for a record like this, since reading online, this album shows a lot of growth and differences from previous albums. It seems quite different from what people are used to from Yo La Tengo, but I’m loving every minute of it. It’s a calming record that will be perfect if you let it take you, sitting back in a lounge chair and soaking it in.