i see what you mean, two american underground bands who obviously have the velvet underground experimental rock thing going on... but... i dont know. yo la tengo dont kick as much ass.

i love some of yo la tengo's stuff (i can hear the heart beating as one, and then nothing..., new wave hot dogs, painful) and HATE some of thier stuff (summer sun, electropura, may i sing with me). one of those bands capable of absolute brilliance, and boring and/or overly self indulgent pretentious blah. i guess thats hpw a lot of the best bands operate.

yep, i totally agree

That Describes Depeche Mode!

if you want to simplify things then sonic youth to my mind is more of a product of early can (the last track on monster movie) + glenn branca.
yo la tengo spent probably more time being rubbish before they got good than any other band i can think of.

Yeah, yo la tengo suck.

So, maybe they inherited the shitty side of VU.