There’s something uniquely satisfying to be said about husband and wife bands based out of the New York area– Sonic Youth, Talking Heads and Yo La Tengo – that all encourage the genre bending of music. Soul mates and band mates Ira Kaplan and Georgia Humbley of Yo La Tengo settled into Higher Ground, providing the trio’s first visit to Burlington in six years which had Kaplan announcing in typical nice-guy tone, “if the saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder, than this is certainly the case.”
After a compelling opening set from San Francisco indie pop band The Aislers Set, Yo La Tengo took the stage much to the mixed age and fashioned crowds' delight, something refreshing within the standard college age hippie oriented crowds of greater Burlington. Although Yo La Tengo, got their start back in 1985, it seems the Hoboken band has received a growing following outside its tight knit indie circle. Perhaps the release of their most accessible recording to date this past spring,
Summer Sun might have something to do with that openess. The band has been making a transition from uncompromising underground rock to more pop oriented creations that have made Yo La Tengo more than some random Spanish moniker.
Opening with the revolving ambient sounds of “Beach Party Tonight” featuring Kaplan on keyboard and Humbley playing pitter patter with the cymbals, the crowd held their breath in anticipation -hardly the testosterone packed rock opener. The band continued into a variety of songs off of Summer Sun- diving head first into “Little Eyes” which featured Humbly smacking her trusty kit with tenacity, while lending her serene voice to the vocals. Perhaps the band’s tribute to Fatboy Slim or vice versa “Georgia vs. Yo La Tengo” featured a catchy Kaplan keyboard riff played shoulder to shoulder with Humbley’s turntable sythesizer effects and McNew’s beat box drumming with maracas, which sounded familiar to even the Yo La novice. The trio continued to revolve back and forth into a variety of songs that exemplified the strengths in each of the band member’s musicianship, with continuous instrument switching. The big boned McNew found himself hopping around, playing practically everything he could get wrap his hands around, while Kaplan and Humbley made nice and jumped between drums, keys and guitars, with all three sharing the prestigious vocals duties, that all sound eerily similar.
The band sprayed on a little of comic relief on “Nothing But You and Me,” which had Kaplan playing the crooner, with a tongue in cheek expression like Sammy Davis Jr. as he slouched against the keys. McNew and Humbley danced in a choreographed mishap, both poking fun at the Britneys of the world, who take such non-musical banter too seriously. Soon the band found them selves within a long winded jam that stretched deep and wide without making you look at your clock, the trio showed their inner jam tendencies. Kaplan at one moment was playing guitar with such angst, the crowd was guessing - how soon before he smashes it in a cloud of rock and roll showmanship. This was quite a racket from a nice guy with a gentle voice, who rather than giving Thurston Moore a run for his money – held off on any on-stage destruction. Much to the crowds' delight, no gimmicks were needed to ensure that Yo La Tengo provides revealing rock and roll with a twist of energy, melody and force.
Photo courtesy of Mitch Cerrone at Rollingstone.com.
