Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One - Matador Records - 1997

After looking on wikipedia and realizing this album got a 9.7 from pitchfork (although the way he starts the review with the “greatest band in the universe” line doesn’t help his credibility), I don’t doubt that this is the most popular and acclaimed album I have done on Throwback Thursday. But even with that being said, I bet most people are not really that familiar with it, and that is a shame because it fucking rules. This was the first Yo La Tengo I had ever bought way back in 1997 and I loved it instantly. It has an awesome mix of instantly catchy rock out songs like “Sugarcube” and chilled out classic Yo La Tengo jams like “Autumn Sweater” or “Shadows”. The album is pretty much greatness from top to bottom, and anyone curious about Yo La Tengo would find this album a good place to start. My love of this album was only increased when I saw them as “Freewheelin’ Yo La Tengo” last year and they dropped some classics like “Stockholm Syndrome” and “We’re An American Band” on me in a stripped down unplugged setting. You also can’t really beat the great Beach Boys cover of “Little Honda” on here. Then there is just the mega smooth shimmering guitar hooks in “One PM Again” and “The Lie and How We Told It”. This album really has it all.

Yo La Tengo - Sugarcube - From I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One

Sheer gold right here. Although Yo La Tengo frequently forays into some experimental directions with their albums and live shows, they still have an uncanny knack to hit a fucking home run with a catchy ass rock song. Just like “Tom Courtenay” on “Electr-O-Pura“, which has been a staple in the live shows as of late, and “Cherry Chapstick” on “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out“, it is just a perfect fuzzed out song that is mega catchy and sounds awesome. This is also a great song live if you ever get a chance to go check them out.

Yo La Tengo - We’re An American Band - From I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One

This is just an awesome song that is so unassuming and chilled out but just builds and has a sweet solo at the end. I remember when I saw them at the “Freewheelin’ Yo La Tengo” show they introduced this song by saying that they felt they needed a song about being a band, just like Grand Funk did (whose song has the same title). It was great to hear the song live and it really is just cool the way it builds up at the end, with the chilled out vibes giving way to all kinds of guitar feedback and noise. This song is Yo La Tengo at its best, for sure.