Matador

The Replacements once loudly sang, “We’ll inherit the earth, but we don’t want it,” imploding and freezing their legacy in the 1980s. Yo La Tengo, at the other end of the alternative rock club, quietly picked up the mantle and have crafted a long, tireless career with highlights that a louder group given to showmanship would’ve milked like a crossfire hurricane. YLT have done a Simpsons theme, performed as the Velvet Underground in I Shot Andy Warhol, become the house band for the legendary underground radio station WFMU – where they play any cover they can fake for charity – and collaborated with musical outsiders, Daniel Johnston, Jad Fair and Yoko Ono.

Their record catalog is deep and wide. Fade is their 13th full-length, says their bio, and it favors their quieter side, with a tune like “Well You Better” sounding like former labelmates Belle & Sebastian on a sunny day and the five-minute “Stupid Things” evoking the idea that Simon & Garfunkel have learned to harmonize to a rhythm section. Only “Ohm” and “Paddle Forward” stumble on the distortion pedal. True to form, neither singer Ira Kaplan nor Georgia Hubley ever behave as if they want the spotlight and no one will ever mistake them for rock stars. Yet, they’ve come, they’ve seen and they’ve conquered – remaining relevant 27 years since their first single leaked out to record collectors, and never outsourcing their responsibilities in the process.

Tortoise member and in-demand producer John McEntire balances the horn section for the light swing, “Is That Enough,” the understated “Cornelia and Jane” and the grander-in-scope album closer, “Before We Run.” The band, however, hang on to creative control. “Two Trains” whispers and mumbles while the electric guitar splashes on a stone, and the folk formatting of “I’ll Be Around” and the modest electric power of “The Point of It” sound as if McEntire eavesdropped on the sessions and snagged a bit for us to hear.

YLT’s reticence to play riff-mad, chorus-hungry rock and roll extended their artistic shelf life. It’s insured that their music never reveals itself too quickly or climaxes prematurely, and that it always has onlookers wondering what the fuss is about. They’ve grown as musicians, perfecting genres that they never dreamed would be within their reach.