Yo La Tengo
http://www.yolatengo.com

styles: indie rock, indie pop, slowcore
others: Low, Camper Van Beethoven, Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth

Summer Sun
Matador, 2003
rating: 4/5
reviewed by: gooblar


OK, I’ll admit it. I was worried. Although the coming of a new Yo La Tengo album always stirs up feelings of excitement within me, the weeks leading up to the release of Summer Sun were filled with indications that disappointment loomed. I downloaded the two tracks made available in advance from the Matador website, “Don’t Have to Be So Sad” and “Little Eyes”, and while they seemed like good songs, they both sounded so quiet, and yes, initially, boring. The advance press was less than encouraging: Time Out London called it an easy-listening album, while the All Music Guide bemoaned its lack of variety and underwhelming song craft. Nonetheless, I purchased Summer Sun on its day of release. My first listen seemed to confirm my fears, as the hushed tones and murmured vocals failed to consistently hold my attention; after listening to it once through, I found it difficult to identify any initial high points, or even distinguish individual songs.

But remember, this is Yo La Tengo we’re talking about, who, in this late stage of their career, make records filled with songs that require time to penetrate their mysteries. I remember that it took me months to ‘get’ their previous full-length, And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out. It seemed impenetrable and dark, especially compared to the manic exuberance for all things pop music demonstrated on the preceding I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One. But of course, in due time, the myriad treasures of And Then Nothing... revealed themselves to me, and should have taught me the benefits of patience. If that album was the sound of a band playing an after-hours set in a dark, smoky bar, refusing to play loud enough to be heard over the din of clinking glasses and inane conversation, Summer Sun similarly speaks so softly that the necessarily attentive listener feels like he is eavesdropping.

This is a bedroom album, but in a different sense than a Barry White bedroom album or even an Elliott Smith one. Whereas Barry is trying to get his lady into bed, and Elliott is decidedly sleeping alone (unhappily, I might add), Summer Sun consistently evokes the image of someone creeping out of bed to play a song, making sure to play softly enough so as not to wake his or her sleeping lover. No fewer than three songs on the album feature Ira or Georgia watching the other sleep, and this hushed intimacy pervades the album. In Georgia’s “Little Eyes,” an insomniac struggles to fall asleep as her partner sleeps in ignorant bliss. In “Nothing But You and Me,” it’s a repentant Ira who can’t sleep, waiting for Georgia to wake up so he can apologize, all to a faintly jazzy backing, featuring a programmed drumbeat reminiscent of And Then Nothing’s “Saturday”. And in Ira’s “Don’t Have to Be So Sad,” he just watches her sleep for hours, for the simple reason that he loves her. It is this very domestic, very adult version of love that is the blood that pumps through Summer Sun’s veins.

Although, as mentioned, it is not apparent immediately, Summer Sun is filled with great pop songs. It is just that the whole album is so uniformly quiet that the listener must listen very closely to hear them. The two high points fall in the middle of the album, in succession, tracks six and seven. James’s “Tiny Birds”, despite having a slight melodic resemblance to “Comfortably Numb”, proves almost as wonderful a showcase for the bassist’s unassumingly pure voice as I Can Hear the Heart’s “Stockholm Syndrome”. The simple, meditative lyrics are set off by Ira’s inventive and subtle guitar work. The fantastically titled “How to Make a Baby Elephant Float” reworks the VU’s “Femme Fatale” into loungy bliss, with Ira making the case that a private joke is more romantic than pillow talk or hand-holding.

If there are weak spots on the album, they are the two songs which stray from the unified hush: “Georgia Vs. Yo La Tengo” which, with its jarring piano riffs and aggressive drumming, just seems too loud; and “Let’s Be Still” a 10 minute fusion jam that invites too many people into the bedroom (including jazzers Roy Campbell, Jr., Daniel Carter, and Sabir Mateen, all of whom featured on last year’s “Nuclear War” single). “Shhh!”, we want to say, “You’ll wake Georgia!”. That said, both of these songs, detached from the rest of the album, make a fine addition to Yo La Tengo’s back catalogue.

Ultimately, Summer Sun is about a selfless love that seems worth aspiring to. It may take a long time to reach such an ideal, but, once reached, the long-term benefits outweigh any pleasures gained from the selfishness that characterizes teenage love (“Love me! Give me attention!”). If you’re willing to put in the time and effort, this album will be with you for the long haul, even if its rewards aren’t immediately apparent.

The album closes with a gorgeous and pedal-steeled cover of Big Star’s “Take Care”, and that song’s sentiments seem quite appropriate to the whole album. “Take care not to hurt yourself / Beware of the need for help . . . / Take care, please, take care”. If you really, selflessly, love someone, you’ll want them to be happy, even if they can no longer be with you. And if you wake up in the middle of the night and write a love song, you’ll sing it softly, so as not to wake your sleeping beloved.

1. Beach Party Tonight
2. Little Eyes
3. Nothing But You and Me
4. Season of the Shark
5. Today Is the Day
6. Tiny Birds
7. How to Make a Baby Elephant Float
8. Georgia Vs. Yo la Tengo
9. Don't Have to Be So Sad
10. Winter A-Go-Go
11. Moonrock Mambo
12. Let's Be Still
13. Take Care