This Stupid World serves as the most live-sounding Yo La Tengo album in years. Times have changed for the band as much as they have for everyone else. In the past, Yo La Tengo has often worked with outside producers and mixers. This Stupid World, their first full-length in five years, was created all by themselves. And their time-tested judgment is both sturdy enough to keep things to the band's high standards, and nimble enough to make things new. At the base of nearly every track is the trio playing all at once, giving everything a right-now feel. There's an immediacy to the music, as if the distance between the first pass and the final product has become more direct.