The holiday tradition continues! For the fifth time in the last seven years, Yo La Tengo will play the eight nights of Hanukkah at Maxwells in Hoboken. Like previous years, there will be a different opening act each night. Who are the acts? Only the Tengo knows for sure! But if history is any indication, the opening bands will be bands of headliner caliber (if that makes sense). There will also be some comedy acts thrown in the mix too.

But you certainly won't be laughing if you plan on taking the PATH an hour early and getting tickets at the door. All eight shows are (as of now) sold-out. But be resourceful! If you really want to go see these mythical music creatures this joyous holiday season and don't have a ticket, you'll find a way to score one. Beg. Borrow. But Don't Steal. Crime and pretty perfect indie-pop doesn't pay.

Hoboken's critical darlings Yo La Tengo have been crafting bedroom pop/noise rock/dream music since the Chicago Bears won the Super Bowl (that's 1985, not 2007...curse you, Peyton!). When the greatest fat man ever, William "Refrigerator" Perry, was rumbling into the end zone, Yo La Tengo were preparing their debut Ride the Tiger.

Since then they have put out over a dozen albums with no end in site. They have been compared to everyone from The Velvet Underground to The Kinks and have influenced a myriad of bands too numerous to list.

Yo La Tengo's strength is adaptability. From folk to garage to post-punk to shoegazer, they are a band that refuses to be pigeonholed. In later years they seem to have turned towards the sunny side of life (see Summer Sun). Maybe as you get older you get tired of being cynical and ironic, or perhaps you see the world with a different slant. But maybe they just want to express their contentment at being at the top of their game for over 20 years. Amazing.

Yo La Tengo play eight shows at Maxwell's during the eight days of Hannukah, Tuesday, December 4th - Tuesday, December 11th.