Painful, Yo La Tengo's essential 1993 album, was a seminal moment in the band's 30-year career. Despite being their sixth studio release, it marked the beginning of two defining decades of lilting, tender fuzz that would canonize them as one of the indie rock greats.
Extra Painful is a very generous reissue of said record: Your choice of a double LP, CD, or download including extensive liner notes, a 7-inch, and 15 bonus tracks made up of demos, instrumentals, and previously unreleased material. Doing a compare-and-contrast of Painful’s “From A Motel 6” to Extra’s acoustic demo is worth it alone. It’s no surprise that Painful has stood the test of time, and Extra offers a glimpse into the blueprint, or skeleton of what it takes to make a classic.
All puns aside, Extra couldn’t be further from painful. A must-have for any Yo La Tengo die-hard descendent.
★★★★★
(Matador)
