There's a Riot Going On

Yo La Tengo - There's a Riot Going On
Critic Score
Based on 31 reviews
2018 Ratings: #444 / 890
User Score
Based on 217 ratings
2018 Rank: #472
Liked by 6 people
March 16, 2018 / Release Date
LP / Format
Matador / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

90
Exclaim!

There's a Riot Going On is an exceptional addition to Yo La Tengo's legacy, a timeless classic.

83
A.V. Club

For the most part, There’s A Riot Going On succeeds in finding strength in the stillness.

80
Drowned in Sound

There’s a Riot Going On is their fifteenth album and, like most of their discography, it carries itself with an unassuming (but powerful) air of quiet confidence. On this record – on the last three or four records perhaps – Yo La Tengo sound like they have existed forever.

80
Q Magazine
Mostly the pace unfolds with the urgency of a melting icicle, couching expressions of fear, hope and love amid forlorn synth arcs and just enough fuzz to keep things frisky.
80
Record Collector

Given the source material, There’s A Riot Going On was never going to be the sonic revolution that Sly & The Family Stone-referencing title might suggest, but it is an invitingly disparate sound collage that will seduce fanboys and newbies alike.

80
FLOOD Magazine
The album is all grace notes—something that’s underscored by Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley singing with total, unflappable zen; they let themselves be untroubled here, and invite you to join them for as long as these tranquil tunes reverberate.
80
God Is in the TV

Full of intertextual layering and referencing, this album is a rich and cohesive piece.

80
Mojo
Any sketchiness only adds to the impressionistic atmospheres that the musicians create.
80
Uncut
It's a remarkably immersive and generous album, emotionally as well as musically.
80
The Guardian

There are flickers of the old fire on There’s a Riot Going on.

80
Loud and Quiet

There’s a lush, other-worldly feel to all fifteen tracks, and at times they sound positively heavenly.

80
The Skinny

This is no call to arms, nor is it rife with political statements. It's a celebration of the small changes that we can make in our own worlds, and which YLT continue to make with each record.

80
Under the Radar

There's a Riot Going On is perhaps the band's most self-reflexive—something the band have spent more than enough time doing already—and dreamy.

80
No Ripcord

There's a Riot... was never meant to be this bold political statement. And why would it be? There's a dime a dozen of those right now. Instead, Yo La Tengo wants us to absorb their calm serenity, and that it's okay to sit down and distance ourselves from the negativity we encounter from time to time.

80
musicOMH

There’s A Riot Going On takes longer to reveal its treasures, but ends up being an enduring and rewarding listen, their best since 2009’s Popular Songs.

79
Paste
The undulating tones anchor it all, giving it a unified purpose even though few of the melodies are of the hummable variety. A riot? Hardly. But by combining these trance-like textures in such an incessant way, they’ve created music of a mostly memorable variety regardless.
76
Pitchfork

On Riot, Yo La Tengo sound more brooding than ever, which is saying something coming from the band that gave the world the 77-minute tone-poem, 2000’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out.

75
The Line of Best Fit

On their dense, careworn new LP (their fifteenth studio effort), indie stalwarts/college rock heavyweights Yo La Tengo have shown that can still bring fresh ideas to the table, despite the album being fifteen tracks long, and it being over thirty years since their first album.

70
Clash
It is, as any indie fan would imagine, a pretty chilled affair, but one with a few surprises up its sleeve.
70
AllMusic

There's a Riot Going On is, in its own subtle way, Yo La Tengo at their most uncompromised; it's an album that's likely to separate their most hardcore fans from more casual admirers, though if you loved "Night Falls on Hoboken" from And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, you'll likely savor it.

70
Crack Magazine
It’s a record with a gentleness that urges you to try and be less anxious, with a fragility that acknowledges that it probably hasn’t worked.
70
PopMatters
More than most any other Yo La Tengo album, it has a palpable, unflappable mood all of its own.
67
Pretty Much Amazing

There’s a Riot Going On ... is textured quite nicely here and there, in amongst all the soft dreamy shuffly-ness that subsumes the words in the mix more than on the last few YLT albums.

65
Northern Transmissions

The album often feels like it can’t decide what it wants to be, and makes one wonder exactly what the band was going for.

65
Spectrum Culture
It’s a decidedly mellow affair that seems to prize consistency and stability over all else.
60
Tiny Mix Tapes

There’s a Riot Going On’s theory doesn’t quite match up to its execution, and its parts are greater than the whole. So, is it more beautiful, or is it more boring? The problem is that it’s often too difficult to tell the difference.

60
The Observer

Like virtually every other Yo La Tengo album, Riot finds the veteran trio striving to make the guitar band sound like the high point of human civilisation, rather than a vehicle for rebelliousness. It is, however, a departure for them.

60
DIY
Gradually, you realise that the airy tranquility of the band’s own ‘There’s a Riot Going On’ was born of an urgent desire to redress the balance - to meet pain and suffering with light and love. The results are quietly overwhelming.
40
The Independent
The occasional cut slices through the general blandness - the lilting “Shades Of Blue” is a winsome folk-pop lollop, and the Neu! motorik groove gives “For You Too” a rare drive - but overall this seems more escapist than reactive, not much help at all.
MySoftBulletin
74

the ambient side of this record is outstandingly beautiful

invertedcarcal
73

On this album, the band go the furthest I've heard them go with calmness and ambience yet. It's a group of beautiful and richly textured tunes with the classic vocal harmonies and sweet love songs. They take it even higher with the two purely ambient/drone tracks about halfway through. There's some really beautiful stuff here, and could be the highlight of their 2010s output.
Favourites: You Are Here, Forever

tha138
72

This riot made me realize:
1- I really like this band no matter what...
2- It's impossible for this band to release a bad album
3- Any of its albums can play the role of the challenging rapporteur in the fascinating indieland

invertedcarcal
73

On this album, the band go the furthest I've heard them go with calmness and ambience yet. It's a group of beautiful and richly textured tunes with the classic vocal harmonies and sweet love songs. They take it even higher with the two purely ambient/drone tracks about halfway through. There's some really beautiful stuff here, and could be the highlight of their 2010s output.
Favourites: You Are Here, Forever

tha138
72

This riot made me realize:
1- I really like this band no matter what...
2- It's impossible for this band to release a bad album
3- Any of its albums can play the role of the challenging rapporteur in the fascinating indieland

0

hgerager

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Added on: January 18, 2018