Yo La Tengo's Quiet Riot

A few months ago, Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley, the husband-wife duo who have performed together in the band Yo La Tengo for 34 years, had some friends over to their apartment. They told their friends a secret: Yo La Tengo had completed a new album—the band’s 15th—and planned to call it There's a Riot Going On, a timely nod to Sly and the Family Stone. (This was “before Matador told us to stop telling people what the record's called,” Kaplan says, laughing.)

Turned out their guests had never heard the Sly album. Kaplan, who considers it one of his favorite albums, mimics his reaction: “You don't know that record!?” He immediately retrieved it from his record collection and played it for them.

For decades, Yo La Tengo has played a similarly curatorial role for its fan base. The beloved Hoboken, New Jersey, band has a reputation for whipping out impromptu covers in concert and hosting surprise-guest performers at their sometimes-annual Hanukkah shows. (Yo La Tengo’s favorite tradition is performing all