Evie Nicholson discovers an angrier and more progressive release from Yo La Tengo
Matador Records
Released: 10.02.23
After almost forty years in the game Yo La Tengo have cemented their position as a critic’s band with a fanatical cult following. Yet they just don’t seem to run out of steam, and in February they release their first full-length album in three years.
This Stupid World still has the band’s whole Velvet-Underground-indie-wistful thing going on, but it seems angrier and more progressive. Yes, tracks like Apology Letter and Until It Happens will appease more orthodox fans, but the most interesting stuff on the album is noisier, garage-like and Krautier. Tracks like Fallout and This Stupid World are industrial and urban foot-tapping soundscapes. It’s their most live-sounding album and produced entirely by themselves. Seventeen albums deep, Yo La Tengo sound fresher than ever.