The hardest point to get across about the band Yo La Tengo is the style of music the group plays.
Sure, critics have drawn comparisons -- most commonly to The Velvet Underground, a rock band that found fame as part of Andy Warhol's art experiment known as The Factory. In fact, Yo La Tengo played The Underground in the movie "I Shot Andy Warhol."
But comparing Yo La Tengo, which plays the Urban Lounge on Monday, only to The Underground does not begin to tell the story. YLT's music is in turns as funky as James Brown at the Apollo, or as shoe-gazing-dreamy as the Cocteau Twins in a Village coffeehouse. Some songs are as short, snappy and sunny as an early Beach Boys hit, while others are as lengthy and guitar-jam-laden as Little Feat at a festival.
The trio (Ira Kaplan on guitars/vocals, Georgia Hubley on drums/vocals and James McNew on bass/vocals) has been at it 20-plus years, building a loyal following in that time with that versatility. This is not only true of the band's original compositions and covers (drawing from artists as diverse at Cat Stevens and the Flamin' Groovies), but also of the work members have composed for various film soundtracks, including "Junebug," "Game 6" and "Adventureland."
Although the musicians have enjoyed their tenure as soundtrack composers, bassist McNew said, they never sought out the work.
"Those things find us when we are not expecting it," said McNew, calling from the band's home base of Hoboken, N.J. "We've had so much luck with that strategy -- or that lack of strategy -- that we just follow it now.
"Soundtrack work is totally different from doing your own thing," he added. "We've been lucky, because all of the directors we have worked with have been big music fans, and can make suggestions that, luckily, we can relate to. They've been pretty good at communicating what they want -- say, a certain character needs a certain musical theme.
"But really, soundtrack work is all about the director's vision. When we make our own record, we are the director. We do whatever the heck we want, whatever feels right to us right then."
The name of the band stems from the phrase that Spanish-speaking major-league baseball players yell out in the outfield when chasing down a fly ball to avoid collision with other players -- literally, "I've got it!"
And this band seems to have had it for a very long time.
The latest, "Popular Songs," is the band's 12th album. It is a short, punchy title for a group that has often given sentence-length titles to its CDs, such as "I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One" and "I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Kick Your Ass."
Said McNew: "I honestly can't remember where this name came from. I remember we all liked the shortness of it, and I think, mostly, we thought it was kind of funny -- short, and yet open to interpretation. It multitasks that way."
McNew said the band's recent soundtrack work, which first began in 2004, has had an effect on how they now record their own work.
"I think it definitely affected us from a technical point," he said. "We did so much work for film in our own rehearsal room -- not going into a fancy studio. We're operating the machinery. That created kind of a new confidence, a freedom to do more things like that for ourselves. 'Popular Songs' was recorded in our practice room, a place where we play and write things every day. And it sounds great -- a good-sounding little room in a big ol' warehouse.
"Plus, we didn't have to worry about the cost of just playing. I mean, when you are in an expensive studio, you have to worry about it, think about, 'If I blow this take, it's going to end up costing millions.' We didn't have that worry here."
The band brought in producer Roger Moutenot, who has worked on the band's last several studio efforts.
"He lives in Nashville, but he was into the idea of capturing us in our element," said McNew. "Before he moved to Nashville in the early '90s, he was in Hoboken as well, and he wanted to come back and see how the neighborhood had changed. So it was just the four of us, placing the microphones and cables and moving things around. It was really enjoyable. That hands-on stuff kind of does make you feel closer to the finished project."
Preserving the jam
Most bands that say their songs come out of a collaborative effort in reality typically have a songwriter who at least starts the ball rolling by bringing in something to work with. McNew said that is not the case with Yo La Tengo.
"Every song we've written forever has come out of improvisation -- just jamming, really," said McNew. "When it is time for us to write songs, we just show up and play. Someone starts playing -- doesn't matter which instrument it is. And it can go absolutely nowhere from there -- it has many times! But it is fun trying to find that something. In the midst of playing for an hour without stopping, we'll discover a rhythm or a pattern we seize upon and go back to and try to develop it."
McNew admits the process is a slow one.
"I think it would be much more efficient if someone showed up at practice and showed the other two how the new Yo La Tengo songs were supposed to go, and we could all add our parts and say, 'OK, we're done.' " He laughed. "But on the other hand, it's so satisfying to really work as a group, and have songs that come out of nowhere. That part of the creative cycle, where the songs are just beginning, it's a really exciting time. When I go in that morning, I think, 'Wow, by the time I get home from practice tonight, there might be a new song. I wonder what it will be like in the end?' "
PREVIEW
- WHO: Yo La Tengo
- WHEN: 9 p.m. Monday
- WHERE: The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 West, Salt Lake City. Age 21 and older.
- TICKETS: $17/advance, $20/day of, available from Smith's Tix, (800) 888-TIXX
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