Yo La Tengo's second album, released in 1987, sees them go more abrasive than the debut. As such, band workouts such as Clunk, House Fall Down and Let's Compromise are ok but sound like they were more enjoyable to record than for us to listen to. The album works better when they shift down a gear. Did I Tell You and Lewis have a slow, VU grind to them. Many of the songs are very brief, Lost In Bessemer takes this to an extreme, a 78 second instrumental. It's Alright borrows some of the melody and chords from the Rolling Stones' I'm Free.
A Shy Dog is the most recognisable Yo La Tengo sounding track, you can hear the band inventing their 90s sound, while penultimate track No Water is the most muted and probably strongest song here, with an Ira Kaplan guitar flourish or two. But in the main, the album is interesting to see where the band came from, but little more.
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