Summer Sun

In these days of mass alternative media, it’s getting harder and harder for American underground guitar bands to stay anything approaching underground and not nestling on a sofa next to some grinning but credible MTV jock. All hail Yo La Tengo though, who have managed to plough their own cult furrow for over ten years now. The good news for those who like to keep these things secret is that Summer Sun shows no sign of grasping the commercial nettle. The soft, lo-fi mumblings that they have perfected over countless albums is all present and correct, meaning that never were songs such as ‘Moonrock Mambo’ and ‘Beach Party Tonight’ (even with a brass section) so massively mistitled. Only the splendid scratchy funk boogie of ‘Georgia Vs Yo La Tengo’ raises the pace any, an instrumental that could be straight out of the Beastie Boys’ cannon. Otherwise, the resulting taste is a slightly acquired one, although then again that could be the whole point. We wouldn’t want the masses getting in on the act now would we?