Yo La Tengo Photo: Dusdin Condren
In 1990, New Jersey indie rock outfit Yo La Tengo released a stripped back long player, Fakebook, a set of 11 covers (with Cat Stevens, Daniel Johnston, Gene Clark and The Flamin’ Groovies numbers all making the cut) and five originals.
Marking the 25th anniversary of the album, Yo La Tengo has delivered a follow-up, Stuff Like That There, which sees the band revisit Fakebook’s format including a mix of cover songs, ‘covers’ of Yo La Tengo tunes, and brand new originals.
This time around, the Ira Kaplan-led quartet connects the dots between artists like Hank Williams, The Cure, The Parliaments and – again – The Flamin’ Groovies.
“One of the reasons why it was appealing to go back and revisit [Fakebook] was that I do think it stands by itself, and it’s really not much like the records before and it’s not much like the records after it,” says Ira.
“We enjoy playing songs that we didn’t write … first and foremost, these are songs we think we do well. The record is richer, in our opinion, by mixing songs that people might know with songs it’s very unlikely that they know.
“We just think that makes it more interesting, rather than a tribute to [Gerry] Goffin and [Carol] King, or something.”
Related audio
Ira Kaplan on Yo La Tengo's 2014 New Zealand Festival of the Arts appearance
Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan on Fade 2013
Music details
Artist: Yo La Tengo
Song: Friday I’m In Love
Composer: P.Bamonte, B.Williams, S.Gallup, R.Smith, P.Thompson
Album: Stuff Like That There
Label: Matador Records
Artist: Yo La Tengo
Song: The Ballad of Red Buckets
Composer: I.Kaplan, G.Hubley, J.McNew
Album: Stuff Like That There
Label: Matador Records
Artist: Yo La Tengo
Song: Butchies Tune
Composer: J.Sebastian, S.Boone
Album: Stuff Like That There
Label: Matador Records
Artist: Yo La Tengo
Song: I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
Composer: H.Williams Snr.
Album: Stuff Like That There
Label: Matador Records
