It has been my pattern of late to put myself in a place to review bands that I’m not that familiar with, or bands that I thought were some other band. I didn’t want to do this again for the esteemed Yo La Tengo, who I do know but not as well as I thought, mistakenly believing them to have a more upbeat sound than they do, perhaps confusing them with another enduring indie rock band, Boise’s Built to Spill or other band of similar ilk. So when I went to see Yo La Tengo’s sold-out show at The Orange Peel on March 11, I was smart enough to bring along my friend Scott Bunn, my co-host on our weekly sports talk radio show on AshevilleFM, “Run That Back,” and the content creator for the impressive deep-dive music website, Recliner Notes.

Below is our conversation after seeing Yo La Tengo tear through two terrific sets of their signature feedback-driven noise-farmer indie rock songs, many of them off their most recent release, This Stupid World. Sets that feature almost as many different flavors as a Baskin Robbins shop: scoops of pop folk and playful lyrics and with ribbons of roadhouse country and rocky backbeats, plus sprinkles of samba and soul, all topped with a delicious layer of distortion that drips over everything.

Tom Chalmers: So, we were there. We saw Yo La Tengo. And, yes, don't pronounce it incorrectly. People get really annoyed when you reverse it and make it Ya Lo Tengo, or some other butchering of their name.

Scott Bunn: Some of their fans may not, but they [the band] actually have a good sense of humor about it. I think the first time they were ever on [“Late Night with] Conan [O’Brien”], he called them YOLO Tango, like “You Only Live Once.” But that was a mistake. They eventually did a song about it — this long, 20-minute song called "The Story of Yo La Tango."

Tom: I’m glad you brought that up because not only do we love this band for how they sound, but as hosts of a sports talk radio show, we love the origin story for their name, as well as the name of the album that song is off.

Scott: Yes, they chose the name Yo La Tengo, Spanish for "I’ve got it," from a baseball mishap that kept happening during the 1962 season when New York Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn and shortstop Elio Chacón found themselves colliding into each other in the outfield. When Ashburn went for a catch, he would scream, "I got it! I got it!" only to run into Chacón, a Venezuelan who spoke only Spanish. So, Ashburn learned to yell, "Yo la tengo! Yo la tengo!" instead. Ira Kaplan (guitar/vocals) acknowledges having read the story in sports essayist Roger Angell’s book, Five Seasons.

Tom: Love that. And that colorful album title is yet another New York sports reference.

Scott: That’s right. Yo La Tengo’s 2006 album I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass is a paraphrased quote from New York Knick Tim Thomas (basketball not baseball), who yelled at teammate Stephon Marbury, "Everyone in this organization is afraid of you, but I'm not, and I will beat your ass."

Tom: That’s so awesome.

Scott: They make another New York Mets reference in the lyrics to their song “Moby Octopad,” which has the line, “Eight o’clock, the lights are on at Shea.” And then one line later, “Dozing off the TV drones, Huskey makes the turn and heads for home," referencing NY Met Butch Huskey.

Tom: So, I enjoy all the embedded sports references but even without all that, I would still enjoy this band. But I was struck by how melancholy and moody they can sound when I was prepping for the show by listening to the posted playlist for this tour, something I know you hate.

Scott: I like to be surprised.

Tom: Well, I was surprised. I thought they were going to be a little bit more upbeat, more bumpy thumpy. I was surprised that they were more ambient and atmospheric and at times reminded me of the band The Feelies.

Scott: They love The Feelies. Yo La Tengo got started sort of in the downtown scene (NYC in the ’80s), but specifically in the Hoboken scene at Maxwell's, and The Feelies were all up there, too. Ira Kaplan was a music writer at the time, so he was a huge fan. (He met bandmate and partner Georgia Hubley at a Feelies show at Maxwell’s.)

Tom: As I watched the show, I kept thinking about the They Might Be Giants show that I'd seen there the night before. I thought it was interesting that we had two nights back-to-back where a veteran indie rock band comes out, no opener, and plays at least two hours with a set break. You could tell the difference in styles with the Giants: shorter, more precise songs, starting on time with a shorter set break. Yo La Tengo: a bit more expansive, starting a little late and taking a longer set break.

Scott: They needed to finish the season finale of “Poker Face.”

Tom: Nice. Another difference is the Giants played lots of their old stuff, including, as advertised, all the songs off their classic 1990 album Flood, which was great for me since that’s one of my favorites. But Yo La Tengo mostly played new stuff, which was fine for me since I don’t know them as well and didn’t really know the difference.

Scott: I figured they would. They have an album [This Stupid World] that just came out last month, and so no surprise the setlist is heavy with songs from the new album, especially the first set. What they do with their albums — I don't think they do this consciously, but it kind of happens that one album will be quiet and ambient, and then the next album will be high-energy rocking, and this one is a rocking one. I love this new album.

They opened with the first song off the new album. So, who was it? Cheap Trick [from At Budokan who said,] “This next one is the first song off our new album”? They opened with “Sinatra Drive Breakdown,” and I was just like, “Yes!” It was fuzzy bass from James [McNew] and lots and lots of guitar [from Kaplan]. “Great! This is exciting.” I hadn't seen them in 20 years. They played here back in [September] 2003, shortly after The Peel opened [in October 2002].

Tom: They reached back a few albums [to 2018’s There’s A Riot Going On] for their second song “Forever,” a slow more-spoken-than-sung song reminiscent of The Velvet Underground or even Suicide. But then they were back to the new album with the slightly taunting “Until It Happens.“ And then we got our first chance to see the delightful Georgia Hubley step out from behind her drums to sing the next song of the new album, “Aselestine.” One, as a shorter person, I was just happy to actually see her no longer blocked by her bunker of drums. But also there was a noticeable energy from the crowd whenever she came forward. “More Georgia!”

Scott: She's very charming and has such a gorgeous voice. [Ira and Georgia] alternate between who's singing the songs, which is cool since they’re husband and wife. He's writing stuff for her to sing, which is sweet. We saw that in a few more songs later in the first set with “No Water” [off New Wave Hot Dogs] and “I Feel Like Going Home,” which I think is a beautiful song. Short song. Then I love “Black Flowers” [both off I’m Not Afraid of You and I’ll Beat Your Ass] And then she sang “Miles Away,” off the new album, to close out the set. So good.

Tom: Then set break, which gave us all time to look around and see that, like the band members, many of us have been doing this a long time. It’s nice not to clearly be the oldest person at a show.

Scott: You go to a lot more shows than I do.

Tom: True.

Scott: So, they opened the second set with more of the new album, this time the title track. Nice and noisy.

Tom: Gritty. Gritty gritty. And then what was that next song? “Orange Song”? The setlist says it’s a cover by some band named Antietam.

Scott: I have no idea who that band is. They like the deep cuts when it comes to covers. They actually have a couple of albums that are all covers. There’s Yo La Tengo is Murdering the Classics, which is all covers. There’s Fakebook, which has covers plus a few originals. And then there’s Stuff Like That, where they do some traditional covers and they also do covers of their own songs.

Tom: I do enjoy a good cover.

Scott: Do you know about their Hanukkah shows?

Tom: I can’t say that I do.

Scott: Every year for Hanukkah, they’ll play all eight nights and they don't repeat a song. They’ll have a lot of different guests. They usually have a comedian open for them: Todd Berry, David Cross, or Eugene Mirman. Sometimes they'll do a night where they only play songs by Jewish songwriters. And that includes Ira, but they'll play [Bob] Dylan and Leonard Cohen songs and more.

They also do a fundraiser for the radio station WFMU every year where they go on the air, and if you donate a certain amount, you can request a song and they'll attempt to play it. They put out a collection of those — that’s the Murdering the Classics album. They usually don't know a lot of the songs that get requested. They can't prep for it. It's usually a train wreck, but it's really a lot of fun and it's in good spirit. So, if they play a cover song, you're in good hands.

Tom: The next song wasn’t a cover: “Autumn Sweater”(off I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One). That was one of the few songs where I was, “Wait, I know this song.” It’s such a good song.

Scott: It's a great song. It's one of their best. But I would also call out the song that came shortly after that, “Fallout.” Even though it’s off the new album, it feels like a song that they could have played in 1993, and then here it is 2023. Just a perfect power pop song. And they just go between those two poles of ambient/soft/nice and then [makes guitar sound] you’re rocking again.

Tom: That was followed by a song with some shared vocals, “Paddle Forward” [off Fade], that definitely had a Feelies feel to it.

Scott: Yeah, I can see that. Then toward the end of the second set, they played “Big Day Coming” off their album Painful from 1993. That's a really big song of theirs.

Tom: That song is what I thought they would sound like the whole show — Dinosaur Jr. pounding drums; Afghan Whigs angsty vocals; Sonic Youth swirling guitar. That one got loud.

Scott: Then they played “Decora,” which is a beautiful song from Electr-O-Pura.

Tom: More Georgia!

Scott: And then came “Tom Courtenay” off that same album. That's the one that you heard me scream on. It goes, “Julie Christie, the rumors are true.” That's just a perfect pop song.

Tom: I liked that one, too. They closed the second set with a cover that I mostly recognized: “Little Honda” by The Beach Boys.

Scott: That's a big song that they like to cover where they play it, and in the middle it's lots of noise. You saw them banging their instruments against the amps and everything.

Tom: So punk rock. And then they made us beg a little for their encore.

Scott: Probably just hydrating. They did come back out and played the “Moby Octopad” song that I mentioned with the Mets references. Very happy about that.

Tom: Yay sports!

Scott: And they finished with a few more covers, [starting with] “Starry Eyes,” which is an old Roky Erickson tune. I’m not as big of a fan of his as some others are, but music nerds love him. It was cool that they brought out AshevilleFM’s own Greg Cartwright [and guitarist for Reigning Sound] to join them on that one.

Tom: Represent!

Scott: The end was “The Whole of the Law” by The Only Ones. I don't know that song. And that was the request. Earlier in the show, [Kaplan] asked, “What's a song you like?” And someone must have suggested that. He said, “We don't know that one.” I like that, where he was maybe speaking for all of us when he said that — you know, not using “I” statements. But then he said, “Oh, we'll save that.” So they did and did it for their final encore. They even say in the online setlist that was an audience request.

Tom: You seemed to come away from that show pretty pleased.

Scott: Yeah, I was happy. I went home thinking I don't play enough Yo La Tengo in the house. They're romantic — you know, just good pop songs. And they're just good people. And that was the other takeaway I had: they’re craftspeople. They knew exactly what they’re doing. “OK, we're gonna play that song. That means you're gonna go here and I’m going to go here.” Like putting on a stage show. Like we’ve done with sketch comedy shows in the past. “I gotta put my boots here if I gotta get into this outfit by the time you come in and say this line.” But they didn't have to communicate any of that. They're craftspeople. They're pros.

Tom: They are. I like that they don't have to recreate a certain sound for you to feel like you’re at their show the way that some bands do. I don't feel like Yo La Tengo has to serve you the Yo La Tengo brand before you get bored. You can not know a song or not quite recognize a style and that’s par for the course for them.

Scott: They cover a lot of bases. They used to be DJs for WFM [Radio in NYC] for years. They come from that New York old school indie culture there. They’re great. They're on the Mount Rushmore, or whatever metaphor you want to use.

Tom: At least in The Hoboken Hall of Fame.

(Photos by Jonny Leather)