Yo La Tengo, 'I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass' (Island)

New Jersey indie-rock elders zigzag through styles.

Two decades on, Yo La Tengo remain true to their Velvet Underground roots, leading off I Am Not Afraid with "Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind," a magnificent ten-minute tsunami of guitar noise. Elsewhere, Ira Kaplan's crew opts for diversity, flitting gracefully from ornery psychobilly to falsetto soul to twinkling folk rock.

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