One of the real perks of running a music review website is that I get music early. Sometimes really early. I have had the new Yea-Ming & The Rumours album for more than a couple of months and I have to honestly say that it's the new release I've played most so far in 2024. Sad, oddly upbeat in spots, and confident in its presentation, I Can't Have It All is a superb record.
I like to think that Yea-Ming Chen named this album I Can't Have It All as a riposte to "You Can Have It All", the classic Yo La Tengo song. There's certainly a similarity in styles between that trio's style and what's here. Yea-Ming even sounds a bit like Georgia Hubley. What makes this music so distinctive is the economy with which songs are constructed. There's not a lot of fluff here but the songs -- like those of the late Elliott Smith -- do a lot emotionally, and contain a depth unlike material from contemporary peers. The elegiac "Can We Meet in the Middle" sets out for territory that is a lot like that covered by Lambchop in decades past, while "Ruby" is a more nimble clap-back on a few levels. Elsewhere, "Somebody's Daughter" (video premiered here not so long ago) is mournful but hauntingly beautiful. Nearly every track here is catchy, with the brief "Pretending" opening and closing numbers especially so.
I think it's safe to say that Yea-Ming Chen could carry this whole album on her own. There are a lot of folks who pick up a guitar and put out an album who can't. But so much of what makes I Can't Have It All work so well is the embellishments from the other members of The Rumours: Jen Weisberg (bass), Luke Robbins (drums), and Eóin Galvin (guitar, lap steel). "Before I Make It Home" is a good example of where the band adds valuable nuance to an already excellent composition. The tune positively soars, albeit modestly so. Fans of Galaxie 500, Purple Mountains, "Range Life"-era Pavement, and, of course, Yo La Tengo should find this one and the whole record wildly enjoyable. I really can't rave enough about this album.
I Can't Have It All by Yea-Ming & The Rumours is out tomorrow on Dandy Boy Records. Details below.
[Photo by Corey Poluk]