Allow me to get metaphysical for a moment. On a memorable episode of Futurama, the on-again, off-again cartoon from Simpsons creator Matt Groening, a robot named Bender is careening aimlessly through space when an entire civilization of miniature, human-like creatures evolves on his metal frame. They worship him as a god. But, despite his well-meaning attempts to do right by his tiny, pious payload, all of his intercessions on their behalf end in disaster. Eventually he drifts near some kind of stellar cloud formation blinking in binary which we come to learn is not just a god, but perhaps the God. His advice to the beleaguered Bender is to use a "light touch," explaining that "when you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all." Listening to the consistent, quiet daring of I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One it's easy to see how someone might overlook just how good Yo La Tengo are at what they do. The album isn't gimmicky or trendy in the way that so many others with shorter shelf lives are. In fact, I would have been hard-pressed to locate this album chronologically on a time-line detailing the last 25 years of indie music. The shoegaze numbers alone could sound at home in the neighborhood of either My Bloody Valentine's Loveless (1991) or The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (2009). Over the course of its nearly 70-minute span, this album offers up a cohesive and gorgeous pastiche of reverb-heavy rock, noise pop, gently experimental instrumentals, and pulsing space-age jam sessions. What's more, YLT does all of this with some seriously versatile musical chops without the result coming off like a high-minded exercise in genre tourism. For more than twenty years, Yo La Tengo have never insisted. They've cajoled. And because they've never aimed a moonshot at the spotlight, despite being critical darlings, mainstream recognition eludes them. It's true: they may never sell out Madison Square Garden or play the Superbowl halftime show. Some people might mistake such modest success for a lack of vision or a failure to catch their big break, as if they just can't seem to stop themselves from flying "below the radar." As for me, I think that when you maintain a low profile, keep your head down, and "do things right," you are actually flying above it. Grade: A-
