Yo La Tengo

Standing alongside the likes of Pavement, Modest Mouse and Guided by Voices, Yo La Tengo's knack of crafting melodic, experimental, good-natured, alternative rock has made them darlings of the critics and cult heroes of the US indie scene for three decades. Named after the Spanish for "I Got It", former music critic Ira Kaplan (guitar) formed the band with his wife Georgia Hubley (drums) in 1984 and quickly drew comparisons with the Velvet Underground for their distorted art rock and wistful melodies on early albums Ride the Tiger (1986), New Wave Hot Dogs (1987) and President Yo La Tengo (1989). The band turned to acoustic folk pop on Fakebook (1992) before signing with Matador Records in 1993 and hitting their peak with the acclaimed I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One (1997) and And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out (2000). A band of camera shy, music obsessives, their career continued to meander through all manner of eccentric styles and sounds on 13th studio record Fade (2013), but their importance to America's indie scene can't be overlooked. They followed up with albums such as Stuff Like That There (2015), There's a Riot Going On (2018), and The Stupid World (2023). A 1998 collaboration with Jad Fair, Strange But True, was reissued in 2025.