Yo La Tengo was born out of passion between young Ira Kaplan (former music critic) and Georgia Hubley. Formed in 1984 in Hoboken, New Jersey, the band released their first album Ride the Tiger in 1996 on Coyote Records, produced by Clint Conley (bassist for Mission of Burma). Next came the albums New Wave Hot Dogs (1987) and President Yo La Tengo (1989). Having as main influences the Velvet Underground and the Beatles, the American group flirts with noise pop, shoegaze and folk-rock, with beautiful melodies and experimentalism. In 1990, the band released Fakebook, an acoustic-sounding, folk-pop-centric album.
Early in their careers, several musicians played with Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley. It was only from the fifth studio album, May I Sing with M (1992) with the entry of James McNew, that the band acquired its classic formation - Ira Kaplan (vocals, guitar), Georgia Hubley (vocals, drums) and James McNew (bass, vocals).
During the 1990s, Yo La Tengo achieved status as a major alternative band, with the acclaimed albums Painful (1993), Electr-O-Pura (1995) and I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One (1997), released by Matador Records .
In 2000, the trio released their ninth album, And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out. In the first decade of the 2000s, the group released the albums Summer Sun (2003), I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass (2006) and Popular Songs (2009).
Produced by John McEntire, Fade, the band's thirteenth album, came out in January 2013. Stuff Like That There, an album that mixes band songs and covers - "Friday I'm in Love" (The Cure), "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" (Hank Williams), "I Can Feel the Ice Melting" (The Parliaments), among others - was released in 2015.
In 2018, the band released There's a Riot Going On, their fifteenth studio album. In 2023, Yo La Tengo returned with This Stupid World.
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