I GOT IT

Dear Yo La Tengo,

We first met over 13 years ago, when you released Painful. I was living down in Charlottesville, and I heard From a Motel 6 on TJU.

I loved the Dylan reference in the title, the Velvets reference on the noisy bridge, and the reserved post-punk cool of the vocals. I made a few mix tapes that year, and this had a spot on all of them.

Thing is, I wasn’t as charmed by the rest of the disc. I liked Georgia’s turn on Nowhere Near, and I guess I was impressed that you included an Only Ones cover that was not Another Girl, Another Planet. But really I didn’t often play it from end to end.

Still, I was involved enough to buy Electr-O-Pura, with its bedeviling hyphens, when it came out a couple of years later. This time, it was Tom Courtenay that grabbed my attention. And again, unfortunately, not much else. It was starting to feel like my late 80s relationship with The Wedding Present.

When I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One came out (and sweet Jebus, has it really been 9 years?) I was naturally wary. The reviews were good, but they usually are. But I decided to give it one more shot.

Well, I’m glad I did, because you really got me with this one. It was waaayyy expansive and way terse at the same time, and I dug it from start to finish. I’d say that with ICHTHBAO you created one of my top 15 favorite albums to date, and for that I’m most grateful. And that Sugarcube video kicks ass.

From this high, I went back to being mostly nonplussed by And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out, so much so that I confess that I didn’t even purchase Summer Sun.

And now it is late September 2006, and I am vulnerable to all manner of autumnal melancholy. You guys fit that program perfectly (Autumn Sweater and all that), so yesterday I picked up I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass.

I’ll drop you a line sometime soon and let you know how everything worked out.

Best regards,

Sliced Tongue