Rock Is A Full-Time Job

03/02/2000 5:00 PM, LAUNCH
Tim Sheridan

How do you break an electric bass string? It's not easy. Just ask James McNew, bassist for the very fine band Yo La Tengo. He recalls that the unlikely event happened to him during his first live gig with the band nine years ago. It is still clearly etched in his mind. "It was at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Sleepyhead opened for us. I remember not knowing quite what to do because I was nervous to begin with and then sort of shocked when it happened. And there was this guy in the front row, I didn't know him, but he was in a band, and he jumped up onstage and changed it for me while I was doing something else. And I thought, that was so kind. That really made a big impression."

The kindness of strangers, as well as fans and critics, has meant a lot to the band, earning them a reputation as one of the most intelligent and daring acts in rock. Their 10th and latest effort, And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out, finds them raising the bar of excellence once again. But they owe that to more than simple kindness. McNew and bandmates Ira Kaplan (guitar) and Georgia Hubley (drums) still practice five times a week. Such a work ethic seems strange for a band with such a long history (they released their first album, Ride The Tiger, 14 years ago). But McNew is nonchalant about their schedule. "It's surprising to me that other bands don't practice every day. It's just the way we function."

So what constitutes a typical Yo La rehearsal? "We'll get together and maybe start doing a cover and then just jam. There's not always a real goal. We might record it, and then if we think it works we'll turn that one-hour jam into a four-minute song." The latest document of this creative process is a rich, resonant, and often dark meditation on love and relationships. But the melancholic mood of much of the disc is not meant to be a downer.

"It's a way of finding a positive idea," McNew insists. "Melancholy is just normal for some people, but it can give you a handle on the present and future." Indeed, the disc also features some of YLT's trademark humor, such as the darkly comic "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House," which suggests the pop star and yellow-ribbon pusher was the victim of arson because of his background singers, Dawn. "If you look closely enough at any of the songs on the album, you can see what kind of people we are. The character of the band is our character. It's a full dynamic display of who we are: quiet, loud, and crazy."

Another notable aspect of the album is its dramatic arc, building from an almost whispered reminiscence on "Everyday" to the scorching blast of "Cherry Chapstick," featuring one of Kaplan's trademark guitar exorcisms, then eventually back down to the acoustic denouement of "Night Falls On Hoboken." "We spent a long time on the sequencing of the album. Knowing we had only one loud rock song, we didn't want to put it too early because then people would expect more like it. I think [the album] breathes nicely." The album's dynamic energy supports intriguing voices within the songs. "Our Way To Fall" is a first-person enumeration of fondly remembered moments in a presumably dead relationship. And "The Last Days Of Disco" is a tale of loneliness amid the flash of '70s decadence. McNew hints that such characters are also reflective of the individuals in the band. "I don't know if they're characters or euphemisms. It's like saying, 'Oh, I have this friend,' when you're really talking about yourself."

This latest disc comes after a particularly busy period for the band, and nearly three years after their last release, I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One. "After the last album we toured more extensively than ever before, hitting Japan and Australia and all over. But we did it at our own pace, which was great." After the tour the band took several side roads, scoring music for a couple of movies, including Hal Hartley's Book Of Life. They also played with monologuist/ ex-Half Japanese main man Jad Fair, recording the quirky and hilarious album Strange But True. "Then we just sort of got around to doing a new album."

As with their last couple of albums, And Then Nothing... was recorded in Nashville, an unusual choice for a gritty, adventurous band associated with New York City (or, more accurately, Hoboken, N.J., where husband and wife Kaplan and Hubley still live). "Nashville originally happened because our producer Roger Moutenot moved down there with his family. But we've found that we can really concentrate on working there." The neutral ground of Nashville has also allowed the band to expand its palette, dabbling in new styles and adding new instrumental elements.

The unique quality of Yo La Tengo is due in large part to the open-mindedness of the band members. When asked about influences, McNew declines to identify even a few, finding such definitions terribly restrictive. "I think if you can narrow your influences to a certain musician or artist, you're not trying hard enough. What I do I think about all the time, so whether it's The Simpsons or how the Knicks played or a biography I'm reading, everything matters."