That's How It Sounded In The Beginning

 

This series aims to highlight bands that have been around for years and take a closer look at their early days. This time we go for Yo La Tengo, an indie band formed in 1982 in Hoboken, New Jersey by Ira Kaplan and his wife Georgia Hubley. The couple are huge baseball fans and so they took the phrase 'I've got it' from a midfielder that he will get the ball. Ever since a player shouted that and bumped into his teammate—who didn’t speak English—and had to learn it in Spanish, it’s become a baseball anecdote.

From the very beginning, Yo La Tengo were hard to pin down musically, as they had a very broad musical range. Their influences span from jangly guitar rock to noise to the raw, raw sound of the Velvet Underground. But cover songs are also a regular part of their repertoire.

Since their debut album *Ride The Tiger*, they have rarely achieved commercial success, even though they have released many excellent albums over the past 40 years. I've seen them twice live in the 90's and every concert was fantastic. Rarely have I heard such a wide variety of different influences on a debut album that is, in principle, composed solely of classical instruments—influences that have lost none of their appeal even today. 

Yo La Tengo - The Cone Of Silence

Yo La Tengo - The Forrest Green

Yo La Tengo - Alrock's Bell

Yo La Tengo - The Evil That Men Do

Today they play some of the best psychedelic-influenced indie rock.