After the elegant, introspective romantic narratives of And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out and the beautifully crafted but restrained pop textures of Summer Sun, it was hard not to wonder if Yo La Tengo was ever going to turn up the amps and let Ira Kaplan go nuts on guitar again. For more than a few fans "Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind," the opening cut from YLT's 2006 album I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass, will feel like the reassuring sound of a homecoming -- ten minutes of noisy six-string freak-out, with James McNew's thick, malleable basslines and Georgia Hubley's simple but subtly funky drumming providing a rock-solid framework for Kaplan's enthusiastic fret abuse. After the thematic and sonic consistency of their previous two major albums, I Am Not Afraid marks a return to the joyous eclecticism of 1997's I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One.

Track Listing
1 Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind
2 Beanbag Chair
3 I Feel Like Going Home
4 Mr. Tough
5 Black Flowers
6 The Race Is on Again
7 The Room Got Heavy
8 Sometimes I Don't Get You
9 Daphnia
10 I Should Have Known Better
11 Watch out for Me Ronnie
12 The Weakest Part
13 Song for Mahila
14 Point and Shoot
15 The Story of Yo La Tengo