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Today Is the Day

Yo La Tengo - Today Is the Day Audio CD

A fair review of the Yo La Tengo "Today Is the Day" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Yo La Tengo reviews here, or go back to the Yo La Tengo tabs.

Band: Yo La Tengo
Title: Today Is the Day
Rating:

Release Date: 2003-10-21
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Today Is the Day 2: Styles of the Times 3: Outsmartener 4: Needle of Death 5: Dr. Crash 6: Cherry Chapstick [Live]

4 1/2 stars-- The missing side of Yo La Tengo.
My biggest complaint of those two records was that they sounded like Yo La Tengo getting old-- sure, the band always had a mellow, melodic side, but at their best, they balanced these traits with explosiveness and great alt-rock tunes. "Today is the Day!" is a collection of leftovers-- two cuts left off of Summer Sun (including a new version of the title track) and a pair left in the can from And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, along with a live performance of "Cherry Chapstick" from the latter. Largely lacking from And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out and Summer Sun, "Today is a Day!" goes a long way to remedying that, and both albums could have been stronger for the material on here.

The title cut is presented in a dramatically different mix-- instead of the laid back swirling sound that was so prevalent on Summer Sun, the piece gets aired out behind a fierce guitar riff, and while Georgia Hubley's vocal maintains its low-key approach, it works. As an added bonus, it features the sort of noisy guitar solo from Ira Kaplan that was so missing from Summer Sun. "Outsmartener" is intriguing, it's a low key riff monster, with a harmonized lead vocal and a counterpoint offered by a double reed performance from William Parker-- it has the distinct honor of being quite unlike anything else, in Yo La Tengo's catalog or elsewhere. "Styles of the Times" is a bit more dispensible-- a straightahead alt-rock riff piece, it's not a bad track, but its exclusion from Summer Sun is understandable.

From the And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out sessions, "Bert Jansch cover Needle of Death" presents another somewhat lost side of the band, their folk side. Presented in a straight folk arrangement with finger-picked steel-string guitars and a gentle vocal from Georgia Hubley, it's an effecting and yet remarkably detached performance. Brief instrumental "Dr. Crash" is something completely different, embracing a '60s mentality-- the Fender bass sound, cleantone electric guitars and a swelling lead organ. Like the other material on the EP, its presence on the album would have helped shake up the sound of the record.

Twisting the whole presentation around is the performance of "Cherry Chapstick"-- a real blazer on And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, here it gets a just fantastic acoustic performance.

I think I'm in the minority in my assessment of Summer Sun and And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, but I felt they were missing the Yo La Tengo energy. The performances on "Today is the Day!" would have gone a long way to remedy that. Highly recomemnded.

Yo La Tengo Es Mucho Gusto

. I was going to give Yo La Tengo's latest release a full review, but, because it's only an EP, and because they're Yo La Tengo, I've decided to write a Haiku in Spanish:

Yo La Tengo son
Mejor que un Chihuahua
Con tres piernas.

We want more!
It's the coolest thing they've put out since Electro-Pura and tracks 1-3 have that nice loud May I Sing With Me sound that got me hooked in the first place. This is cool. These were recorded in 2002 so maybe there's still hope.

Needle of Death is a beauty. Reminds me of the Big Star cover that closes Summer Sun which is (unfortunately) my favorite track on that album. I'll be looking for Dr. Crash on the next Quentin Tarentino movie (it's too late for Pulp Fiction).

Maybe the pendulum is swinging away from the more recent experimental stuff and back to skronk. Yes, we want more!

.

My First Yo La Tengo Experience.
I wish I started listening early, judging by the strength of this ep. odd, isnt it that someone hasn't listened to yo la tengo nearly 20 years into their existance. From the first tender notes sung from today is the day, I knew this would be quite the experience. This style of music just blew me away. To me, the wall of noise of the first three tracks isnt disgusting, but more along the lines of hypnotic. I have already fallen in love with both georgia and ira's voices, and Ive only heard this album and 2001's . . . and then nothing turned itself inside-out. The mellow songs are also very good as well. this is a short album that you can listen to in almost any mood. highly recommended, especially to people new to YLT like me.

When? Today!
But for those who want something a little rockier and grittier, "Today is the Day!" is the answer. Yo La Tengo's most recent release, "Summer Sun," is a smooth and mellow swirl of polished soundscapes. Call it "Summer Sun's" shadow side.

The influence of this EP's parent album ends before it begins, with a blasting bass line underlying the formerly mellow "Today is the Day. " The remaining five songs are a mix of vaguely fuzzy rock (the murmury "Styles of the Times"), straightforward pop where the ante is upped ("Outsmartener"), and just pretty, experimental sounds (the pretty "Needle of Death" and gently catchy "Dr. Crash"). It ends with a murmur rather than a bang, with a slow acoustic cover of 2000's "Cherry Chapstick. "

There's an experimental feel to "Today is the Day!", a mixture of different musical styles. It's like Yo La Tengo is trying on several pairs of shoes to see what fits them best. The first few songs are the weakest on this EP; they crackle with energy, but sometimes get lost in their own instrumentation. By the third song, "Today is the Day!" has found its footing.

Generally the musical difference here is when a loud song is made soft, or a soft song made loud. In "Today is the Day," there's just a heavy guitar/bass line that separates it from its more mellow "Summer Sun" version (not to mention the "crazy double-reed horn"). And strange as it sounds, one of the riffs in "Outsmartener" sounds just like the Batman theme song.

"Today is the Day!" is a nice addition for fans of Yo La Tengo. For newcomers, it's a good illustration of their musical versatility, and just how rocking or pretty their music can be.

You can see a complete list of all Yo La Tengo discography, or go back to the Yo La Tengo tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.