Yo La Tengo

Holy Mackerel –can this summer get any better?!. Mystery Girl, Galesburg and 95bFM are pleased to be bringing to New Zealand – for the first time in ten years – the band that  has a cult following even the Mormons envy, influences the influential and renders the critics uncritical - yes that’s right, it is Yo La Tengo!

Monday 8th February – The Montecristo Room – Auckland
Tuesday 9th February – San Francisco Bath House – Wellington

Tickets on sale Monday 9th November from www.undertheradar.co.nz , Real Groovy (Auckland) and Slow Boat

Formed in 1984, Yo La Tengo’s place in rock history is unique. The personal and musical partnership of Ira Kaplan (guitars/vocals/keyboards) and Georgia Hubley (drums/vocals), with the addition of James McNew (bass & more) in the early 90s, has been one of the most intimate and secure musical alliances in history. Few bands in memory dare to experiment quite so widely with such casual audacity. From screeching art-rock and jangling pop songs to electronic soundscapes and hushed lullabies, Yo La Tengo’s music explores the range of musical history without ever sounding less than modern.

Yo La Tengo’s live shows are electrifying events; never the same as the last, and it’s onstage that their dynamism is most visceral. Over the years, they have expanded their basic guitar/drums/bass line-up by adding banks of keyboards and additional percussion. Their vast cache of originals often take unexpected forms, and as Spin said recently, their covers range from the Beach Boys to Sun Ra and virtually never suck. They are also dedicated fans of New Zealand bands such as The Clean, David Kilgour, The 3ds, the Bats and more, having toured the US Australia and New Zealand with many of these artists.

Yo La Tengo have just released Popular Songs - their 12th (or 14th, depending on what and how you count) album, which from Pitchfork to Mojo has been extremely well received – check out these reviews on metacritic.