Indie rock stalwarts Yo La Tengo began when husband and wife duo Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley started playing Rolling Stones tunes together, so it's no surprise that cover songs have been a constant throughout the group's history. The track list for the group's latest record, Stuff Like That There, reads like a mixtape made by a well-studied music fan, including covers of hits by the Cure and Hank Williams alongside renditions of cuts by lesser known acts like Great Plains and Antietam. Kaplan spoke to us over the phone during a stop on Yo La Tengo's European tour, offering his thoughts about the World Series, the Grateful Dead and the appeal of playing other people's music.
Stuff Life That There is a spiritual successor to Fakebook—what inspired you to do another record of covers?
Playing cover songs is never very far from our grasp, it just kind of came about. When Fakebook came out in 1990 we started getting asked if we would do another one. The band's 30th anniversary was a big part of it. We were looking back and thinking about our past, not necessarily more than usual, but in a different way than usual.
The record also includes some reinterpreted Yo La Tengo songs. How did you decide which songs to revisit?
We’re doing it constantly—we almost don’t have to bring songs back because most of them never go anywhere. Sometimes we think we’re playing them the way they were on the record, then we hear the recorded version and it sounds nothing like the way we play it. When we were thinking about Stuff Like That There, we just tried some. We try not to dismiss an idea without giving it a shot.
Was there a cover you tried to record that simply didn’t work out?
I don’t think we gave up on anything, but one of the covers that didn't make it onto the new album was a song that we abandoned during Fakebook. When we recorded Fakebook, we started at least two songs that didn’t get finished—one of them was “A Song For You” by Gram Parsons, which we played live from time to time. It’s a long song so working it into the time limits of a vinyl LP was tricky.
When you play tunes by other artists, they almost sound like Yo La Tengo songs. What inspires the way you approach a cover?
We don’t try to make songs sound like us, we almost can’t help making them sound like us. It’s not a conscious thing—for better or for worse, we can’t do anything else. One of the reasons we’ve always been so fond of playing covers is because of our feelings about being listeners. When I was going to CBGB, I responded to the Ramones doing [Chris Montez’s] “Let’s Dance” as much as I responded to them doing “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.” Sometimes we get asked about why we do the covers, as if it’s not personal—to me it’s just as personal. You can write a song and let the emotions and lyrics come from your life, but when you cover a song that’s a part of your life, it’s equally personal in a different way.
I heard that you attended one of the final Grateful Dead shows in Chicago.
I had no intention of going, but when [Real Estate bassist] Alex Bleeker asked me about playing at an after-party, I thought, “Yeah, that would be great.” I had seen the Grateful Dead about a half-dozen times, and I was a pretty big fan for a while, but I certainly didn’t follow them around. There was a big delineation in my life where punk rock happened and the Grateful Dead were part of the past for me.
What did you think of the show?
The show was really, really moving—I ended up sitting by myself. A lot of people moved around and checked out the show from different spots, but I just sat in my seat and tried to take it all in. I heard that at the first farewell show in California, they did all the really old songs—in terms of a set list, that’s the one I would have liked. A lot of the songs they did at the show I was at were from the period when I wasn’t really paying attention to the Grateful Dead. But I loved it. It was really powerful. Obviously nostalgia figured into it in some way, but it wasn’t like, “Oh, they’re playing my favorite songs, therefore I love this show.” It was something harder to put your finger on.
I know you’re a devout Mets fan. Do you have any words of solace for Cubs fans?
The Cubs had a fantastic year. The cliche you always hear is that a Yankees fan is disappointed if the Yankees don’t win the World Series. That’s certainly not the experience of a Mets fan. If the Royals win the series [Ed. Note: They won it.], the Mets have still had an incredible year. People keep asking us, “How could you schedule a tour during the post-season?” As Mets fans, that’s rarely a consideration for us. Frequently I root against the National League team in the World Series because I spend the whole year rooting against them, but there was no question that I was for the Cubs if they beat the Mets—they’re an amazing team to watch.
Yo La Tengo plays at the Vic Theatre on November 5.