I was born on May 2, 1995, the day that Electr-o-pura came out.
Fourteen years later, I started high school and made a new friend who
wore a leather jacket and boots, who expressed confident opinions
about music that I had never heard. I devoured every recommendation
they gave me in an effort to align my tastes. I wanted to be cool, or
at least not uncool. I found out about the Stooges, Philip Glass, and
Sonic Youth through my effort to win their approval. I loved it all,
and my parents hated every new discovery. Cool was loud.
One day my friend brought me a stack of CDs, all Yo La Tengo, and told
me to take them home, listen to them, burn them, and return them. I
did what I was told. I liked those records from the start, and more
with every listen. I’d lay in bed listening to one of their records,
pause the song I was listening to when I got too tired, then push play
upon waking.
I remember my confusion upon listening to Electr-o-pura for the
first time. I referenced the tracklist on the back of the CD so I
could learn titles, but the printed song durations didn’t match up to
what I was hearing. I wondered if there was some manufacturing error
and I wasn’t hearing the songs I was supposed to hear. “Flying Lesson
(Hot Chicken #1)” is listed as lasting just over three minutes when
it’s actually 6:42. “Blue Line Swinger” says it’s 3:15, but actually
clocks in at 9:18. I know now from looking into it that Yo La Tengo
intentionally misprinted the times, trying to combat short attention
spans, hoping they would trick people into giving those long songs a
chance. It tricked me, though I’m a sucker for long songs anyways.
It’s interesting to think about how this move couldn’t be pulled today
in a world of digitized music. And if people had short attention spans
then, how short are they now? All to say, I liked that they were
playful.
What kept me coming back to Yo La Tengo was their understanding of
moods. I listened to bands that knew anger, bands that knew sadness,
but I didn’t know of any other bands that could express a full life’s
range of moods the way they can. From song to song, the music was
anxious, celebratory, sorrowful, content, confused, etc. And even when
they got loud or dissonant, it never felt hostile. The sounds could be
harsh, even ugly, but they were joyful. Some songs could make me cry,
but they were gentle, not malevolent. I was taking on someone else’s
tastes, and in the process, discovering my own.
Tom Courtenay was the first Yo La Tengo song I learned on guitar. I
didn’t know what it meant, but I knew who Julie Christie was and loved
the line, “As the music swells somehow stronger from adversity / our
hero finds his inner peace.” I didn’t know what the needle had to do
with anything, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was like any
good poem, leaving space for me, between images. Now, I think the song
may be about obsession with media, equating the allure of the movies
and movie stars to drug addiction. Who knows, that’s just my take.
Eventually when Matador asked to sign
me,
the fact that Yo La Tengo is on their roster was a major component of
my decision. They’ve been putting out great albums every couple of
years for over three decades, experimenting and exploring with what
seems to be an uncompromised creativity. That is worth celebrating,
especially now, when any opportunity for celebration is a blessing.
Happy 25th birthday to Electr-o-pura, and thanks for the music, Yo
La Tengo.