Yo La Tengo

Formed in 1985, it is only now, with the release of their eleventh album "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out", that Yo La Tengo seem to be getting any real exposure on this side of the Atlantic.

The band are nothing if not eclectic, and the Royal Festival Hall was almost too "worthy" a venue for the essentially esoteric Yo La Tengo's brand of Lo-Fi, Hi-Art rock.

Seemingly spurred on by this paradoxical atmosphere, and the support of American ex-pats (Whooh!! Yeah!! Alright!! at every God-given opportunity......), the core trio of Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew opened up a mixed bag of hauntingly nostalgic love songs, punctual three-chord tricks and embarrassing, almost self-parodying "improvisations". One moment Ira Kaplan would be coaxing ghostly sounds and rhythms from his over-amped acoustic guitar, effects pedals and bits of broken guitar strings. The next, he'd be going wildly over the top with barrages of over-driven self indulgence (Neil Young is STILL the undisputed master over controlled guitar mayhem). Then, without missing a beat, the band turned to magically hypnotic, charm-ridden melodies.

The line-up expanded to include arch parodist and Python collaborator Neil Innes, ex-Spacemen 3 electro-droner Pete Kember (aka Sonic Boom), and veteran songsmith Robyn Hitchcock. How many of these will make it onto the festival circuit is uncertain, but their presence seemed to control the introspective if wilful American flights of fancy, however much they appealed to the typical South Bank audience of pseudo-bohemian Web designers and Turner Prize wannabes.

They're probably glad this is about as famous as Yo La Tengo are ever going to be. But don't let that put you off as you wander past The New Bands Tent on an early summer's evening this Glasto, ready to rest your weary legs and be (not always) pleasantly surprised.