David Browne on Yo La Tengo

"For a quarter-century, Yo La Tengo has refined a beguiling blend of fragile pop and bomb-siren feedback, making at least two essential indie-rock albums … in the process. At a point when most bands start slowing down, Yo La Tengo has instead released its most forceful album in a decade, Popular Songs, whose tracks saunter confidently from electro–bossa nova and piano pop to twisty guitar drone and John Fahey–style avant-acoustic music. (The bouncy 'If It’s True' even sports a Motown bass line.) The band made major headway in film scoring with this year’s cult hit Adventureland, and on September 25, they’ll headline Roseland Ballroom for the first time ever. … In the beginning, the word career could hardly be associated with the band. Soon after meeting, [guitarist-keyboardist Ira] Kaplan and [drummer Georgia] Hubley dragged a guitar, drum, and amp to Kaplan’s family’s house in Westchester and bashed out Who and Kinks covers. 'We didn’t do it to form a band,' Kaplan says. 'We did it to pass an afternoon.' (The group’s name is Spanish for 'I have it,' reflecting Kaplan and Hubley's mutual baseball addiction.)" ("Hoboken's Finest," New York, 9/21/09)