With the release of their new album, This Stupid World, Yo La Tengo have shared the sprawling album opener “Sinatra Drive Breakdown”. Referencing the Hoboken, New Jersey waterfront boulevard, “Sinatra Drive Breakdown” is driven by hypnotic rhythm and spontaneous bursts of guitar, as the band intones, “I see clearly how it ends / I see the moon rise as the sun descends”.
Times have changed for Yo La Tengo as much as they have for everyone else. In the past, the band has often worked with outside producers and mixers. They made This Stupid World all by themselves. And their time-tested judgment is both sturdy enough to keep things to the band’s high standards, and nimble enough to make things new.
Another new thing about This Stupid World: it’s the most live-sounding Yo La Tengo album in years. At the base of nearly every track is the trio playing all at once, giving everything a right-now feel. There’s an immediacy to the music, as if the distance between the first pass and the final product has become more direct.
Everyone on the record grapples with how time keeps steamrolling and how we keep trying to do something about it. It is there in the title, a defiant but clear-eyed declaration that suggests a will to fight, against the odds. It’s there in the title track too: “This stupid world – it’s killing me / This stupid world – is all we have.” Such realism leads to the resolute optimism of This Stupid World’s parting shot, “Miles Away,” which sees time’s passage and life’s impermanence as things to deal with rather than reasons to despair. “You feel alone / Friends are all gone,” Hubley sings softly. “Keep wiping the dust from your eyes.”
Tour dates as follows…
Fri, Feb 17 – Bellingham, WA – Wild Buffalo SOLD OUT
Sun, Feb 19 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom SOLD OUT
Mon, Feb 20 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom SOLD OUT
Wed, Feb 22 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore SOLD OUT
Fri, Feb 24 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore SOLD OUT
Sat, Feb 25 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom SOLD OUT
Sun, Feb 26 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom SOLD OUT
Mon, Feb 27 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom SOLD OUT
Thu, Mar 9 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle SOLD OUT
Fri, Mar 10 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle SOLD OUT
Sat, Mar 11 – Asheville, NC – Orange Peel
Mon, Mar 13 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East
Tue, Mar 14 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East
Thu, Mar 16 – Charlottesville, VA – Jefferson Theater SOLD OUT
Fri, Mar 17 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
Sat, Mar 18 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel
Sun, Mar 19 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club SOLD OUT
Tue, Mar 21 – Pittsburgh, PA – Mr Smalls
Wed, Mar 22 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom SOLD OUT
Fri, Mar 24 – Chicago, IL – Metro SOLD OUT
Sat, Mar 25 – Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall Ballroom
Sun, Mar 26 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
Mon, Apr 10 – Dublin, IE – 3Olympia
Wed, Apr 12 – Manchester, UK – New Century Hall
Thu, Apr 13 – Bristol, UK – SWX
Fri, Apr 14 – London, UK – The London Palladium
Sun, Apr 16 – Brussels, BE – Ancienne Belgique
Tue, Apr 18 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
Wed, Apr 19 – Rotterdam, NL – LantarenVenster SOLD OUT
Thu, Apr 20 – Hamburg, DE – Uebel & Gefaehrlich
Fri, Apr 21 – Copenhagen, DK – Bremen Teater SOLD OUT
Sun, Apr 23 – Cologne, DE – Gloria Theatre
Mon, Apr 24 Prague, Czech Republic – MEETFACTORY
Tue, Apr 25 – Berlin, DE – Huxleys Neue Welt
Thu, Apr 27 – Paris, FR – La Cigale
Sat, Apr 29 – Barcelona, ES – Sala Apolo
Sun, Apr 30 – Murcia, ES – WARM UP Festival
Tue, May 2 – Madrid, ES – Warner Music the Music Station Príncipe Pío
Wed, May 3 – Bilbao, ES – Santana 27
Thu, May 4 – Bordeaux, FR – Rockschool Barbey
Fri-Sun, July 28-30 – Yuzawa, JP – Fuji Rock Festival
