From left to right: Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew are Yo La Tengo, the beloved indie rock mainstays visiting the Ogden Theatre on Saturday.
Every good band knows that mystery is essential to longevity. Whether itap their shadowy mythology, an ever- morphing lineup or a squirrely sound, the ability to discover new things keeps our favorite musicians fresh. also knows this. The critically acclaimed act (Spanish for “I’ve got it!”) was formed 25 years ago in Hoboken, N.J., by husband-wife team Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley, and it has had the same lineup since 1992, when bassist and occasional singer James McNew joined.
And despite its enshrining in the indie-rock canon, the band continues to surprise.
Its excellent new album, “Popular Songs,” mixes soulful boogies and bubblegum pop with ’60s garage freak-outs and acoustic meditations. Hints of the Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth and Mission of Burma remain, but Yo La Tengo has evolved its own sound, incorporating ’60s girl group melodies and elaborate string sections.
We spoke with James McNew in advance of Yo La Tengo’s Saturday show at the .
Q: Whatap funny about Yo La Tengo is that, critically at least, there’s this mild exasperation with how consistently good your albums are.
A: None of us really allow ourselves to think about that stuff much. We sort of remove ourselves from our reviews — although, removing yourself from your reviews is much different than removing yourself from the people who’ve come to see you. We feel immediate gratitude for the people who are there in front of us. We still enjoy talking to people after shows and selling T-shirts and things like that.
Having no definable sound is a rare thing in a band with a decades-old cult following.
I’m sure, in a retail sense, it would make everybody a lot happier if there was some awesome catchphrase that could sum us up, but I’m actually happier that there isn’t.
The band’s been around 25 years and you’ve been with it for 17 years. What have you found to be the basics of a lasting collaborative relationship?
Sometimes in your life, you just meet people that you think, “Oh right, I was supposed to meet these people,” and it just falls into place. Our first practices were a lot like they are now: We show up and talk about TV or movies or records and then eventually get around to playing, then we stop playing and talk about something else for a while. Itap a natural rapport because we continue to have a lot in common.
But you’re also unafraid to try new things, since your albums sound so different from one another.
Playing together for such a long time creates comfort, but also the sort of confidence to (mess) up and try something that maybe you wouldn’t before.
Do you ever feel the band is taken for granted?
Not really, although I remember Thurston Moore making the public quote that the worst career move Sonic Youth made was not to break up. I found a ring of truth in that. As great as Sonic Youth is, I do think maybe people take them for granted sometimes. Itap like, “Oh, great, another Sonic Youth record. And itap really good!”
Yo La Tengo is also known for its ability to play any one of hundreds of covers at the drop of a hat. Do you have an estimate of how many songs the band knows?
There’s no running tally. I imagine percentage-wise, as far as songs that exist in the world, we’re making a decent dent. Letap say: Fewer than a million, but more than a few hundred.
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John Wenzel is the co-editor of Reverb, editor of the blog and an arts and entertainment reporter for The Denver Post. His book was recently published by Speck Press.
