Yo La Tengo's eleventh LP is a synthesis of all that preceded it. Having grown steadily less guitar-dependent in the course of their fifteen-year career (2000's 'And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out' contained only one excursion into their trademark fuzzed-up pop punk) 'Summer Sun' is conspicuous by its lack of six-string action.
In fact, it sounds like there' s barely a guitar on it. With the empty spaces filled by pianos, electronics and brass, this minor masterpiece of an album is nothing less than a precision exercise in deconstructed songwriting. Every cymbal crash, every bass note, sounds purposefully poised and placed. The Tengo could be turning into the college rock Steely Dan. And all this from a band who worship The Shaggs!
Yet, despite this scientific approach, emotional impact is never sacrificed. It simply creates more space for the Hoboken trio to weave their particular brand of magic - like they've simply acknowledged the further you twist the volume knob from 11 the greater the scope for creativity. The likes of 'Little Eyes', 'Nothing But You And Me' and 'Tiny Birds' are probably the finest things they've ever done - stretching from eastern psychedelics through hushed pianos and sophisticated rhythms. Everything counts in small amounts.
The atmosphere of quiet revolution only lets up at mid-way point when 'Georgia Vs Yo La Tengo' ushers in some of that beach party vibe hinted at in the album's title. Aping the soundtrack to some 60s Hollywood Mondo B-Movie with it's fingerclickin' keyboard motif, it leads into the similar likes of 'Winter A-Go-Go' and 'Moonrock Mambo' (the record's sole weak link and let down by some truly bad rapping).
There are shades of the High Llamas here, but, following ten-minutes of proto-jazz improvisation on 'Let's Be Still' they land a sucker punch in the shape of a perfectly realised cover of Alex Chilton's 'Take Care'. It finishes the album on a melancholy high that makes you realise that you love this band as much as you ever did and that you've been Tengoed all over again.
