Yo la Tengo‘s new album, “I Am Not Afraid And I Will Beat Your Ass” is one of my favorite of the year. Their show at the
Fonda last week came on the heels of four nights of cream slinging at the Arthur Nights Festival. I was a bit tired but Yo la Tengo and Why? on the same stage was a show I knew I’d regret if I passed it up.
Why? has the current misfortune of being labeled Hip Hop, or maybe Indie Hip Hop. Yoni started off the Why? moniker years ago and mostly rapped over programmed beats (as far as I can tell) but the setup that’s been on the road for a while, Yoni on keys, brother Josiah on drums/vibes and Doug on keys/guitar is far from “Hip Hop.” I guess the issue is that people don’t know how to label the band…and we all know how important that is. There music is groovy, catchy, beat-y, and unique. Yoni’s lyrics and vocal delivery are really what set it apart though. Props to Yo la Tengo for having them open their shows and although a lot of the crowd didn’t seem to have been familiar with Why?, they definitely had a dedicated Anticon crew in the house getting down. Check out their last couple EPs and CD but keep in mind that their sound live is quite a bit different than on record.
The Fonda was packed by the time Yo la Tengo took the stage. The show was sold out and there wasn’t much room to move around, the seats up top were taken up first and after a couple ten-plus minute jams I understood why. It’s quite possible that Yo la Tengo is the most respective of all Indie Rock Bands. If not, they’ve definitely got the largest back catalogs of classic songs that are quite perfect for road trips. They have the ability to go from songs that are a decade old, like “I Heard You Looking” to a new song, like “Mr. Tough”, without any sense of time lost.
After about an hour, the seven nights in a row of shows got the best of me. We chatted in the lobby with Yoni for a couple minutes then called it a night.
Pick up “Not Afraid…..” and you won’t be disappointed. “Black Flowers” might be my favorite song of the year. Actually, I think you could buy just about any Yo la Tengo album and you’d be happy. I rocked the 2-CD greatest hits package as I drove around the country this summer and that’s full of all kinds of goodness too.
