Yo La Tengo continues the tradition of taking inspiration from all over the place; there’s no common theme uniting the album. Does anybody care after all these years? They still make great pop. Although Yo La Tengo did not thematically link each song together, I’d like to propose one that makes sense for this album: calm. Each track on Popular Songs is calming and relaxing like a cup of tea. From “Here to Fall,” which sounds like a song straight out of the '90s Matador roster, to “If It’s True,” which sounds like Motown, each track is perfect to lie in a bathtub and listen to. Okay, all except for “And the Glitter is gone,” a 15-plus-minute song with crashing drums and screaming guitars. This just goes to show you, you can’t try to put Yo La Tengo into a box. But if you had to, the box would be labeled “good.” - Evan Tokarz