has been around for so long, and been so good for so long, I thought they’d pretty much exhausted all the indie rock tricks out there. And then I heard “If It’s True,” track number six from the band’s newest LP, Popular Songs (Matador, out Sept. 8).

It opens with a dusty bass groove that wouldn’t have been out of place as a B-side to The Temptations’ “My Girl.” Then the syrupy strings slide in, singers/spouses Georgia Hubley and Ira Kaplan start trading verses, and we’re off! Next stop: Hitsville U.S.A.! This song, like Spoon’s “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb,” proves there’s a whole indie-Motown sub-genre out there just waiting to be exploited by some enterprising artist.

But exploring styles is nothing new for Yo La Tengo and as soon as the strings of “If It’s True” fade out, they move on to a whole different sound: the moody folk-pop of the James McNew-voiced “I’m on My Way.”

This article appears in Sep 2-8, 2009.