1000 Day Album Challenge (#31) Yo La Tengo: Summer Sun (2003) [31.01.24]
took a walk alone last night, slept inside your head / it was raining hard again, crawled back into bed…
Yo La Tengo are indie rock lifers. I’ve been a fan since their third studio album, President Yo La Tengo, released in 1989. they were the last band I saw live before moving to California. I saw them at the Knitting Factory in NYC with Heather, John and Nada in December 1989 or January 1990. like their then current album and so much of the music from their career they swung back-and-forth between quiet contemplative songs and a bit of a noisy feedback fest.
released just before I turned 40, I believe this is the last album I listened to obsessively. if there has/have been other(s) I didn’t listen nearly as much as I did to Summer Sun. I remember living with @funlovinsob, @rob_g4545, and thorny20, hiding in my room listening to Summer Sun on repeat, sometimes for hours. or at least that’s what it feels like in 2024.
this is the only album by YLT that I know well that leans into the quiet stuff. it really kinda makes me feel all warm and cozy. with Kim and Thurston long since split, Georgia and Ira are the defining couple of the alternative rock world. they have been making music together for almost 40 years at this point. Robert Christgau makes a strong case for this as their Love Album (https://robertchristgau.com/xg/rock/yolateng-03.php).
for me, this is comfort food. a brilliant album from one of my favorite bands.
#1000DayAlbumChallenge #YoLaTengo #SummerSun