Alt-rock royalty Yo La Tengo gets ‘Popular’ without planning

Yo La Tengo means “I’ve got it!” in Spanish, and after a quarter-century ahead of the cool curve and more than a dozen records under their belt, New Jersey’s hippest trio still does.

Not that there was ever much debate about it.

From their 1986 debut to the recently released “Popular Songs,” guitarist/singer Ira Kaplan, his drummer/vocalist wife Georgia Hubley, and bassist James McNew have enjoyed nearly continuous critical acclaim.

Never succumbing to the allure of crossover success or Rock Band merchandising, they are the indie rock model — talent, street cred, and both the freedom and encouragement to indulge in all of their countless influences.

An ingrained tendency to act on creative impulses and an ever-expanding roster of select cover songs has endeared them to a sophisticated fan base and paved the way for ongoing longevity.

But even with independence and accolades, many bands become cynical and disinterested after decades together.

Seventeen-year member McNew is pleased that hasn’t happened yet with Yo La Tengo.

“It’s still thrilling to play, and I love traveling,” McNew said from a recent tour stop in Cleveland. “It’s still fun and spontaneous. I mean, at some point during every day on tour, you just want to scream and completely lose your mind. But when I stop and put it in perspective, I’m in a rock band and on tour with my friends. It really is my dream job.”

It’s been a busy year for the band.

March’s “Fuckbook” (an album of covers released under the alias Condo Fucks) and September’s “Popular Songs” came on the heels of scoring the film “Adventureland,” Greg Motolla’s follow-up to “Superbad.”

After a 12-year stretch of releasing albums at a clip of every three years, it seems the band is speeding up in its old age instead of slowing down. But according to McNew, things like that just aren’t on the band’s radar.

“We’ve never thought about it from a careerist angle,” he said. “And we never really thought about how long it’d be going on, either. As I discover a lot when I do interviews, we really don’t think about much. I mean, we do, but we don’t think about that kind of stuff. We never thought about the big picture. We just never really…planned.”

However, there are still certain things that the band works diligently to organize. They continue to create a different set-list for every performance and take an hour each show day to get together and figure out what to play. Never yet playing the same show twice in a two-and-a-half- decade career, they know it’s only a matter of time before they’ll be foiled by mathematics. And effort is made to work in their famed covers regionally. More often than not, encores will include songs from hometown acts in each city they’re playing.

Whether things are planned or unplanned, it’s most important for the band to avoid becoming predictable in either style or theory.

“I don’t even remember where the title ‘Popular Songs’ came from,” said McNew, “but we all loved it. And as the album took shape and we found the artwork, we liked it even more. The combination of all the album’s elements really opened it up for many interpretations. I think we’re always happier when things do that rather than making a statement. When you blatantly tell what something means, then it’s over and people don’t have to think about it any more. And that’s totally unsatisfying to us.”

The band is slated to play dates in the U.S., Europe, and Japan until late December. Then they’ll take a short break and head back out on the road for more of the same. After that, it’s hard to tell. Future plans are one of the things that consistently fall into the unplanned category for the band.

“There was a point around 1992 when we bought a van,” McNew said. “That was a massive step for us. We had three or four years to pay it off, so we knew we’d be doing it for at least that long. It was our first real long-term commitment. And the only time when we really knew how we intended it all to work. We paid it off and wrote some songs together. And even though we haven’t had a plan like that since, it’s all seemed to turn out quite well.”

Scott McDonald is a music contributor for SDNN.

Event info

What: Yo La Tengo, Endless Boogie

When:7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 16

Where: SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd. Suite I, Sports Arena

Tickets: $20 in advance

Info: www.somsandiego.com

http://www.myspace.com/yolatengo

Tags: Adventureland, Georgia Hubley, Greg Motolla, Ira Kaplan, James McNew, Popular Songs, Scott McDonald, SDNN, SOMA, Yo La Tengo

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