Yo
La Tengo began as a relatively straightforward punk-leaning rock group.
However, their history unfolded, they absorbed an appreciation of guitar fuzz
and, seemingly contradictory, folk music. Their 1995 album Electr-o-pura fits after 1990’s Fakebook,
1992’s May I Sing With Me, 1994’s Painful because it represents the
summation of a few different styles – Electr-o-pura
(EOP) savors the fuzz and the folk, creating a distinctive sound, while also
having some ethereal moments. This unique blend gave rise to their later works,
especially 1997’s I Can Hear the Heart
Beating as One and 2000’s And Then
Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out. Arguably, after these two albums, Yo La
Tengo switched sounds again. Ascribing a “best” album by this band is arduous
because the band has had quite a few different stylistic phases but EOP is a
solid choice for the position.
A fantastic album, EOP has a particular atmosphere stemming from these songs and their arrangement – upbeat, guitar-heavy songs are often balanced out with mellow, melodic pieces, allowing the album to remain dynamic. Nor is this juxtaposition every other song – often the band will punish one’s ears sonically before aiming for calmer works. Sometimes these shifts in dynamics are subtle and sometimes they are in-your-face, but they always act to keep the album moving. Even though the album is comparatively long, it feels moderately paced.
Having been first introduced to the closer first, I was surprised when I first listened to the album. The closer, “Blue Line Swinger”, would seem quite unusual if it started at the beginning of the album. In a sense, EOP is a musical journey because, as juxtaposition of soft and harsh occurs, the style gradually shifts from the band’s earlier sound into something unique. Arguably, “Blue Line Swinger” recalls Painful while diverging substantially. Yet this journey has gaps – the tracklisting is not just a story to be pieced together. Throughout its length, Electr-o-Pura is cohesive, and can be traced.
“Decora”, the opener, is deceptively calm with its steady drumbeat and intermittent guitar- behind Ira Kaplan’s soft voice erupts insistent guitar, creating a surprisingly distorted sound. After all, the beginning of the song is reminiscent of many other rock groups in the mid ‘90s. As if ushering in urgency, “Flying Lesson (Hot Chicken #1)” maintains a post-punk darkness with an unsettling tone – in that sense it is the stylistically darkest song, standing out from the rest of the album. Flame-spewing guitar enters about 90 seconds in – in that sense Yo La Tengo is separate from many of their noisy peers. A harsher version of “No Fair” by the Wipers[1] may be an adequate description of the song. The feeling of restraint is subdued, allowing for a frenzy of sound. Leaving the blistering style of the previous song, “The Hour Grows Late”, one of my personal favorites, is something of a melodic rock nocturne, in case you could not guess from the name. Here clean guitar is joined by soft, barely audible drums – quite unlike the previous two songs on the album – and vocal harmonies are utilized, giving a calm atmosphere. This piece captures EOP’s soft underbelly while prying the sonic pallet further with an organ.
“Tom Courtenay” then injects energy back in – seemingly the band laughing at listeners expecting a continued mellowing out – and brings the pace back up. If anything, it acts as the upbeat guitar-pop song, loaded with guitar fuzz but perhaps catchier than My Bloody Valentine’s Isn’t Anything[2],[3]. Throughout the album post-“The Hour Grows Late”, ther is a lot of juxtaposition between soft pieces and rougher pieces but the band is never crass enough to just switch every other song – they use a gradient of noise, realizing they hail from both folk and noise-inspired indie rock. “False Alarm”, for example, reminds you that the band features a drummer[4]. Though each song on EOP varies, perhaps “(Straight Down To The) Bitter End” in its distorted glory captures the guitar-heavy side of the album – jagged but controlled. If “The Hour Grows Late” is the fragile underbelly, then “Bitter End” is the rough armored shell.
Through this uneven mixture of tones, the album provides two sides behind the band before it tries out something new: the closer. This makes sense – the subtle diversity on the album reveals Yo La Tengo’s willingness to make risks and experiment with their music. The penultimate piece “Attack on Love” features a sample followed by volcanic guitar and furious percussion, reflecting this desire to explore other sounds. “Blue Line Swinger” starts with a continuous stream of keyboard before the guitar enters; the song builds up over a few minutes before Ira’s voice even appears, odd on this album. Though the song accelerates, it remains steady and melodic, creating an immensely fun but structured closer. The guitar’s fuzz is ever-present, building as the percussion pushes the song forward. The album ends with guitar feedback drifting into space before it suddenly ends, a statement that represents the album – Yo La Tengo, throughout Electr-o-Pura, never simply reaches for distortion and is in fact willing to cut it short to change the feel of a piece. For this reason and many others, I consider it a very strong album indeed.
However, one question is likely searing inside your mind: Why would I write about a 20 year old album?[5] After all, Yo La Tengo has not even had this noisy sort of sound in over a decade. (Listen to 2013’s Fade[6] for further proof of that.) Sure, 2003’s Summer Sun – which was my introduction to Yo La Tengo as a band – is busy instrumentally with many layers but it is quite mellow and synthesizer based. There is nothing quite like the ‘90s Yo La Tengo guitar pop on it. In fact, Summer Sun belongs with the few albums that followed it. However, Electr-o-pura does also showcase the band’s evolution of style even if that style is different. EOP was the right choice for this review because it uses a fuzzy rock approach in innovative ways and it represents my favorite arc of the band’s music. 1993’s Painful is similar in this regard and is an excellent companion for Electr-o-pura. EOP bends sounds while remaining entertaining and being a strong album. Even though it came out twent\y years ago, Electr-o-pura remains quite strong.
[1] The Wipers were a punk group
from Portland, OR. Though they played punk music in the vein of their peers in
the ‘80s, the Wipers included a grungy sound. “No Fair” is a song from 1981’s Youth of America and features a
post-punk style with infusion of distortion.
[2] My Bloody Valentine is
considered a major band in the shoegaze genre. They are also considered noise
pop and dream pop. The main point is that MBV is fairly similar to Yo La Tengo
on this album.
[3] That is not meant to be an
insult, by the way.
[4] Hopefully you realize this is
another facetious comment.
[5] Yes, possibly nostalgia. But I
did not even listen to this album for the first time until last year. The
person I’m blaming for that is a secret, though.
[6] Fade is a solid album in my opinion. So go try it out if you haven’t.
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