Big Day Coming: Yo La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock

Jesse Jarnow's Yo La Tengo bio is a great read for longtime fans like me who have really struggled with a lack of information on "The Story of Yo La Tango," between the band members' storied shyness and the general lack of media coverage throughout their career. It's also interesting how YLT's lifecycle has almost perfectly followed the initial rise of the American Underground movement that later turned into the heyday of Indie Rock, then later mutated into the Pitchfork-led "Indie" monoculture that persists to this day, with YLT as elder statesmen. Jarnow is to be commended for not only recognizing this trend, but accurately portraying the cultural shift and the band's increasingly complex place and figurehood within the "Indie" monoculture - something that most rock writers are just starting to recognize and incorporate into books.The one downside about the book is that there's hardly any insight into the conception, writing, recording, inspiration, etc. of the band's studio albums. If you blink you'll miss "may I sing with me" entirely. YLT are an obsessive record nerd's band, and yet you're not really going to find any behind the scenes info, insight into lyrics or song titles, studio stories, that aren't already known or available. Considering that the band members themselves are listed as primary references, I was surprised to see that almost all of the meagre content in this regard was familiar to me from the Roger Moutenot "Tape Op" interview and a few other sources. There's no talk about gear (considering YLT are a pedal, obscure drum machine and organ and amplifier-fueled band) at all. I was really hoping for a peek behind the curtain of the band's wonderful albums, and there's just basically nothing in this regard on a per-album basis other than "They convened in Nashville to record the new record. They enjoyed barbecue. A few months later, the album was released to mediocre sales."Still, there's a lot of ground to cover and it's a good biographical overview of the many people involved in the story.

Being a long time fan of YLT, I enjoyed the book and it's discussion of the history of the music scene which was so important to both their growth and the growth of the indie rock, specifically in Hoboken and NYC. Ira seemed to have his hands in every event pivotal to the growth of indie rock in this area. It was also great to read of the way YLT evolved from their early days of innocence and amateurish status to the seminal rock band which they became, especially in going through one bassist a week (seemingly) till they found James McNew. Or he found them. Either way it was a match made in indie rock heaven and surely one of the reasons they are still current and evolving. Though I already really loved (most of) their music, it was fun to see how certain albums and songs were created, especially the influences involved and surrounding events. Recommended for anyone who also enjoys their music, or if they just remember the days of going through record stores just for the fun of it.

First off, I have all of Yo La Tengo's albums and have seen them live. I listen to them almost daily. I feel this book is for fans only. Even as a fan, I longed for a more in-depth look at their lives. Don't get me wrong, there are some interesting facts and some insight into where they came from and their journey. Overall, however, I just feel a lot of it was really boring. Hey, if someone wrote a book about my life and described my job as it progressed on a monthly basis for 25 years it would be a snooze fest. I just would like a bit more passion to come across on the page. It is written well, but about a quarter way through the book I just became bored. I read a lot of biographies, especially rock band/musician biographies. This one is written better than many, but it is not as interesting as most I have read. If you like Yo La Tengo a lot, it might be worth it. If you're just getting into them, I would just enjoy their music.

This book takes you from the earliest days of one of my favorite rock bands up to "Popular Songs". It is very comprehensive and relates Ira's and Georgia's history including a succession of bass players ending with the addition of James McNew, the current dude. It also gets into the relationship of the band with respect to other "alternative" groups. One thing I found lacking was the comparison of their recordings to their live performances, especially with respect to Ira's guitar freak-outs, which I find is one thing that I know some may find tiresome or overblown, but that I find to be GREAT. We saw them last night at the Pageant in St. Louis (University City), and they did it real good as always.

As a long time Yo La Tengo fan, I really enjoyed reading every single chapter of this book, it is very complete and full of interesting information. It also covers really well the recording process of the band and those parts were all highlights for me.I am from Brazil and was a bit disappointed with the fact that the concerts they gave here were not in the book, but i think it is a personal thing and the writer did his own choices.

I was only a minor Yo La Tengo fan before I read the book. I spent a few days reading the book in the summer while simultaneously listening to the corresponding albums as they were being described in the book. Jarnow goes into extreme depth with the stories behind every album. The book flows well while also chronicling some of the other big events in music as the Yo La Tengo stories unfold. Their music really doesn't sound the same anymore.A must-read for any Yo La Tengo fan.

A must-read for anyone interested in the history of modern American independent music. One of the most fun music biopics I have read in several years.

Amazing

Un Libro muy interesante sobre este grupo, con una música actual e innovadora, muy fácil de leer a pesar de estar en Inglés, con anécdotas y comentarios muy interesante.Es un libro para regalar y hacer conocer este interesante grupo. Es muy recomendable.

Interesting perceptions provided and thanks to the delivery team for prompt service.