Yo La Tengo Are Not Afraid of You and They Will Beat Your Ass

"We are currently not answering that question," Yo La Tengo frontman Ira Kaplan deadpans when asked about the title of his famously mild-mannered band's upcoming album, I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass. Due September 12th, the twenty-two-year-old New Jersey trio's twelfth effort is also its most eclectic, packing a heck of a lot of genres into seventy-seven minutes.

Beginning with the snarling, ten-minute guitar jam "Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind," the indie vets veer through Vince Guaraldi-influenced R&B ("Mr. Tough"), country-pop confections ("Sometimes I Don't Get You"), uptempo crunch ("I Should've Known Better") and the more familiar ambient sounds of their recent albums ("I Feel Like Going Home"). On "Mr. Tough," infectious brass is followed by bassist James McNew's winning falsetto, imploring, "Don't you think we've suffered enough?/Meet me on the dance floor." And "Black Flowers" pairs horns and strings -- along with bells and gorgeous harmonies from drummer-vocalist Georgia Hubley.

The feel-good track "Beanbag Chair," with its insistent piano chords and trombone trills, is now streaming at the group's official Web site. "I'm losing every race I run," Kaplan sings, "Making misery out of fun!"

In addition to a quartet of horn-abetted numbers, the band welcomes session man (and former Bob Dylan collaborator) David Mansfield's string arrangements on several songs. "It was Georgia's idea that we try to find him," says Kaplan. "We've liked his work for years." Originally collaborating during one of Yo La Tengo's annual Hanukkah performances in their native Hoboken, the band called on Mansfield at his garage studio after arriving in Nashville to work with longtime producer Roger Moutenot.

Recently, the band took time out from mixing I Am Not Afraid to appear -- along with Sonic Youth -- on the WB teen drama series The Gilmore Girls. The band played an acoustic version of "Beanbag Chair." "It was maybe not the best time to pick up and go out to L.A.," Kaplan confesses of the weird, tween-centric gig. "But given the opportunity to try something different, we're always happy to take advantage. And it turned out to be so much fun."

Lately the band's been having plenty of tangential good times. They've scored a handful of movies -- including Old Joy, starring Will Oldham (a.k.a. Bonnie "Prince" Billy), set to debut the week before the album. They collaborated with Pee-wee's Playhouse designer Gary Panter in a one-off Sixties-style light show and jam that led to I Am Not Afraid's cover illustration. While these are not the actions of ass-beaters, they are evidence that Yo La Tengo are certainly not afraid.

Which leads Kaplan back to that album title. "Like a lot of things we do," he says, "we prefer that the title just take off and suggest whatever it suggests without giving it any pointers in our direction."

Or "I am not afraid of you and I will beat your ass" could be something that basketball star Kurt Thomas reportedly said to player Stephon Marbury. But don't try to box the Tengo crew in.