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CRITIC REVIEWS
90
Sixteenth album sees New Jersey trio reverting to their signature sound, consolidating their position as alternative treasures.
9mo
86
Yo La Tengo feel more alive on This Stupid World than they have in years – which isn’t to say that their more recent efforts were lacking in any way. The songs here just crackle and spark with an innate energy and unpredictability not heard since 2006’s I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass.
9mo
85
On their liveliest album in at least a decade, indie rock’s most steadfast institution squares up against ubiquitous darkness.
9mo
85
It’s a remarkable feat for a band this far down the road to create something that feels like a potential classic, both timely and timeless, a record that pushes the edges of darkness, all the while offering a reassuring light.
9mo
80
Despite comparisons, Yo La Tengo are a force unto themselves, like nothing else on the planet.
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9mo
80
Yo La Tengo bind This Stupid World in a consoling fuzzy warmth, garlanding these quiet riots of commingling genres in tones suggestive of courage, affection, and a conciliation with life's fleeting adventure.
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9mo
80
This Stupid World encapsulates the contradictions of profound ambivalence, once again demonstrating Yo La Tengo’s brilliantly eclectic creativity.
9mo
80
The New Jersey trio regain an edge of unpredictability while maintaining their warm sound on their 16th record.
9mo
80
We’ve witnessed the snarled warp and weft of young Yo La Tengo transform into earthier, lusher textures. There’s a lot to dive into here, but – of course – not all the time in the world.
9mo
80
It's ... the group's most exciting, most engaged, most breathtaking album this century.
10mo
80
This is familiar YLT, but that's certainly not a complaint ... Even with two-thirds of the band in their mid-sixties, a childlike quality remains.
10mo
80
A quintessential YLT album – but this time, even as Ira Kaplan is wringing his guitar for noise, drummer/vocalist Georgia Hubley is turning down the volume.
9mo
80
There aren’t many bands that produce such genuine, creative, consistent music over this length of time, ‘This Stupid World’ is another wonderful instalment in their extensive catalogue.
9mo
80
Following on from the delicate brooding of previous record There’s A Riot Goin’ On, this latest set immediately marks itself as rougher, angrier and louder.
9mo
80
Their indie-rock idyll feels threatened, and it gives their always-excellent songwriting more urgency.
9mo
80
In the face of time's challenges, the album does not argue for helplessness or nihilism.
9mo
80
Yo La Tengo's sixteenth studio album is reflective, funny and defiant.
9mo
80
On This Stupid World, Yo La Tengo proves they are still relevant arbiters of rock.
9mo
80
This Stupid World might bear a title which suggests exhausted cynicism, but the album demonstrates a band reinvigorated.
9mo
80
Yo La Tengo has always been an introverted band, both musically and in the fans they attract, but This Stupid World is a particularly introverted record, even by their standards.
9mo
80
This Stupid World doesn't pretend all is roses again, but it finds a lot more room for joy and engaging with your muse. If the world is still stupid outside of Yo La Tengo's headquarters, inside they're making worthy art to share with us, and we can all be grateful for that.
9mo
77
I’m sure people who have been following Yo La Tengo since day one will think it’s a masterpiece, but the truth is that while it offers some new sounds it probably won’t cut through the current musical landscape.
9mo
70
With their 16th album, This Stupid World, Yo La Tengo more or less lays it on the line.
9mo
70
As the foreboding passage of time looms overhead, Yo La Tengo meet it with their signature romantic recipe: levity, a bit of gentle reflection and a dose of absurdism.
9mo
60
In This Stupid World maudlin and distracted vocals, fuzzy guitars and spacey vibes predominate on tunes that seem to be, with a couple of exceptions, firmly aimed at the head rather than the hips.
9mo
60
It’s the New Jersey trio’s 17th album and they’ve been pushing at their familiar style, finding cracks in the bedrock of their sound.
9mo
50
The indie rock legends spin their wheels in the mud a bit.
9mo
I've never been the biggest of Yo La Tengo, their music always just came off really boring and drawn out without much to it, at least to me. And this album is kinda more of the same, just a little bit better.
The instrumentals are solid but are so dragged out that some of them start to get old, but I do have to say that the production is pretty good here. The vocals are mostly pretty good, I mean they are lowkey and fit the songs well.
Overly, I don't have much more to say, this album was... ... read more
not feeling this at all. maybe its just not for me. i couldnt get through most of the songs. Aselestine is amazing, though.
Yo La Tengo is by far one of the best bands in the world of shoegaze, their distinctive sound is hard to mistake for anyone else, the musicians release a convincing album, the noise guitars sound like it's the most gentle dream pop since it turned out that they are the quietest of the loudest bands in the world.
© 2023
It's alright as background noise, but I wasn't really gripped by anything here.
Fav Songs: Sinatra Avenue Drive, Fallout, Aselestine
![파란노을 [Parannoul] - After the Night](https://cdn2.albumoftheyear.org/200x/album/634123-after-the-night_0552.jpg)
![파란노을 [Parannoul] - After the Magic](https://cdn2.albumoftheyear.org/200x/album/516779-after-the-magic_1024.jpg)
Contributions By
Torrance (Eyehead single out), EmilyScott, sgtrock412, OPENblinds, noob <3, EraRainbowsBecome a Donor
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Track List
| 1 | Sinatra Avenue Drive 7:24 | 71 |
| 2 | Fallout 4:36 | 75 |
| 3 | Tonight’s Episode 4:50 | 73 |
| 4 | Aselestine 3:50 | 79 |
| 5 | Until It Happens 3:15 | 71 |
| 6 | Apology Letter 4:16 | 68 |
| 7 | Brain Capers 5:35 | 67 |
| 8 | This Stupid World 7:27 | 64 |
| 9 | Miles Away 7:30 | 74 |
Total Length: 48 minutes
Year End Lists
| #5 | / | Uncut |
| #21 | / | Louder Than War |
| #25 | / | MOJO |
| #42 | / | RIFF |
| #49 | / | Rolling Stone |
| #50 | / | Paste |
| / | Fopp | |
| / | Glide |
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5mo
My favorite album of the year so far and of course it has the most middling user reviews :/
Added on: November 2, 2022