Yo La Tengo are a band from Hoboken, New Jersey, formed in 1984 by the couple Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley. Though the band's formation changed a few times in their early years, James McNew joined them in 1991, and the group has remained the same to this day. At the end of the eighties, they released three albums, “Ride The Tiger”, “New Wave Hot Dogs” and “President Yo La Tengo”, on Coyote Records, establishing their indie-rock sound, much in debt to The Velvet Underground, which won them a solid fan-base. Their first and only album on Bar/None came out in 1990. “Fakebook” was a change of sound for the band, moving towards a much more folky territory. The LP featured five originals and eleven covers of tracks by Cat Stevens, The Scene Is Now, Gene Clark, Ray Davies, John Cale and Daniel Johnston. It revealed their passion for cover versions, something the band have since shown on several records and during their concerts.

With James McNew as a new core member, they released “May I Sing With Me” in 1992. A year later, one of their most acclaimed efforts to date, “Painful”, was released. It began a golden era for the band. On the album, they mixed atmospheric passages with noisy jams, one of the group's trademarks from then on. They followed it up with “Electr–O–Pura”, released by Matador in 1995, their label ever since. In 1997, the irresistible “I Can Hear The Heart Beat As One” came out, possibly their finest masterpiece, which featured a mix of different sounds: ambient, shoegaze, bossa nova, electronica, folk, rock and long, noisy passages.

In 2000, “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out” came out, one of their calmer efforts, mainly featuring slow ballads. On the album, they chose to expand their instrumental palette, adding drum machines and vibraphones. The follow up, “Summer Sun”, was a minor commercial setback – perhaps as there was little development from their past work - something they fixed with “I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass”. The latter was heavily influenced by their previous work on film soundtracks and featured brass instruments and strings. Their last album to date is “Popular Songs”, released in 2009. It was their biggest commercial success yet, peaking at 58 on the Billboard 200.

Selected discography

“Ride The Tiger” (Coyote, 1986)

“New Wave Hot Dogs” (Coyote, 1987)

“President Yo La Tengo” (Coyote, 1989)

“Fakebook” (Bar/None, 1990)

“May I Sing With Me” (Alias, 1992)

“Painful” (City Slang, 1993)

“Electr–O–Pura” (Matador, 1995)

“I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One” (Matador, 1997)

“And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside–Out” (Matador, 2000)

“Summer Sun” (Matador, 2003)

“I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass” (Matador, 2006)

“Popular Songs” (Matador, 2009)