2009er und mittlerweile etwa 14. Album des Trios aus Hoboken, ein aus allen Ecken sonnendurchwirkt leuchtendes, phantasievoll verspieltes Werk, das ebenso vom wechselnden Lead-Gesang wie von zum Teil endlos ausufernden Instrumental-Passagen geprägt wird. In einem bemerkenswerten Spagat aus reifem Zurücklehnen und ungebremst treibender Energie und Spiellust erschaffen Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan und James McNew ein farbenfroh schimmerndes Psychedelic-Panoptikum, das bei aller Liebe zur Harmonie immer wieder ausbricht und Grenzen sprengt. In improvisations-verliebten, rauschaften Epen wird schon mal der 10-Minuten-Rahmen gekonnt ignoriert und die Gitarren ins drogenbeschleunigte Nirvana getrieben. Samtener Untergrund, heftigster Garagen-Rock, sonnigster Wohlklang, balladeske Duett-Momente, euphorischer Power-Pop und hypnotische Psychedelic-Trips, traumhaft sanfte Schwebe-Phasen und lustvoll verzerrte Rausch-Ausbrüche – hier wird nach Herzenslust amerikanische Musikgeschichte gelebt, zitiert und geschrieben. Aus Erfahrung gut.
(Glitterhouse)
Jeder Song ein anderes Genre: Nachdem Yo La Tengo bereits 1996 mit "I can hear the Heart beating as one" ein sprunghaftes Meisterwerk vorgelegt haben, veredeln sie mit ihrem zwölften Studioalbum noch einmal den fliegenden Wechsel. Gleich das erste Stück "Here to fall" fährt Shoegazergitarren, Geigen und Keyboards auf, damit Ira Kaplan die Liebe feiern kann, während kurz darauf das von Georgia Hubley gesungene "By Two's" mit Drummachine und 80er-Synthies in tiefe Traurigkeit abtaucht. Mit dem Garagenrocker "Nothing zo hide" erinnen Yo La Tengo an die besten Momente des US-Indie Anfang der 90er, der Orgelsound des fast schon funkigen "Periodically double or triple" verneigt sich vor den 60ern, und "If it's true" ist ein zeitloses Popduett. Am Ende dürfen auch die typischen Improvisationsepen nicht fehlen, die es zusammen auf mehr als 20 Minuten Spielzeit bringen - und natürlich kaum gegensätzlicher sein könnten: Während sich "More Stars than there are in Heaven" temperamentvoll aufbaut, sind es nur einige wenige Akustikgitarrenakkorde, die das hypnotische "The Fireside" vor der Unsichtbarkeit retten. Mit "Popular Songs" etablieren sich Yo La Tengo als beste Musikbox der Welt - und verbauen sich zugleich den vorzeitigen Ruhestand. Denn zu jedem der zwölf grandiosen Trailer erwarten wir jetzt ein nicht weniger gutes Album. (cs)
(kulturnews.de)
Whether or not Yo La Tengo are being tongue in cheek with the title of their 14th album, Popular Songs does find Hoboken's finest embracing pop song structures with a renewed degree of enthusiasm — this isn't quite the Yo La Tengo "loaded with hits" album, but for a band that's shown an increasing willingness to explore the outer limits of its music in the studio, Popular Songs features nine tunes you can hum along with and sometimes even dance to. Those who got high marks in math will notice that Popular Songs has 12 selections, and as befits a band that covered George McCrae's "You Can Have It All," on the second half of this set YLT take the opportunity to stretch out and invite the spirit for a while — the total time of the first nine tracks on Popular Songs is roughly the same as the last three, which should tell you something about the album's dual nature. "Periodically Double or Triple" and "If It's True" in the first half are two of the most user-friendly songs this band has recorded in quite some time, the former a playfully funky R&B number with a killer bassline and the latter a slice of sweet uptown soul complete with a Hammond B-3 and a polished string section, while "I'm on My Way" and "All Your Secrets" are low-key but beautifully crafted examples of smart pop for grownups that won't insult your intelligence or your imagination. If "By Two's" and "Here to Fall" reflect YLT's trippier inclinations, the melodies give them a firmer backbone than many of their previous gestures in this direction, and "Nothing to Hide" is a bracing and joyous dose of rock & roll. The first half of the album is smart enough and strong enough that the final three cuts almost seem like a letdown; "More Stars Than There Are in Heaven" is lovely, but sounds like a rehash of the ideas the band worked out so well on And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, and the minimalist acoustic guitar textures of "The Fireside" are almost too fragile to support its 11-minute length. Popular Songs closes with the usual Ira Kaplan guitar freakout; "And the Glitter Is Gone" is a fine plunge into the valley of skronk, with Georgia Hubley and James McNew bashing away with equal fervor and giving this album a typical but rousing finale. But as fine as those nearly 16 minutes of controlled chaos are, it's the first half of Popular Songs that you're more likely to come back to, where by thinking in a small space Yo La Tengo have challenged themselves a bit and beautifully risen to the occasion.
(by Mark Deming, All Music Guide)
Most of us fans have a silly tendency to look at our favorite musicians as being the smartest people in the world. Within their lyrics we know we’ll find the answers to everything, if we just look hard enough. In truth, most musicians are no smarter than any of us—often much less so. You can find many books on this subject.
Georgia, Ira and James of Yo La Tengo are exceptions to this rule, and Popular Songs, their 12th (or 14th, depending on what and how you count) album is the proof. Because when this new and dramatically unimproved world puts the hard questions to Yo La Tengo, they go Socratic as hell, swaggeringly, reassuringly, honestly telling us that all they know is they know nothing. They do not know why that sunbeam comes through the window when you are determined to sulk; they do not know just how are we going to make it, anyway?
Down to their fingernails, Yo La Tengo understand that the dichotomy has never been love & hate—this life is about love & fear. And fear makes you run and hide, sit on your ass, do nothing but be consumed by it. To restate the obvious, Yo La Tengo are not afraid. They walk bravely forward, into the unknown, hand in hand. And 12 (or 14) albums in, they may just be hitting their stride.
(Matablog, Matador Records)