Yo La Tengo, “This Stupid World.”

An appreciation for Yo La Tengo operates much like a secret handshake, indicating to other ultra-hip music aficionados that you see beyond the flashes in the pan to appreciate music made as its own reward rather than to dominate the record charts. The Hoboken, New Jersey trio has spent almost 40 years flying under the radar of mainstream music, all the while collecting a loyal fanbase forever tuned in to the band’s low-key musical brilliance.

This Stupid World, the band’s 16th studio album, is likely to thrill fans without rocketing the band to superstardom. In other words, the band is once again feeding two birds with one scone, to use the parlance of our troubled times. This Stupid World is part great Sonic Youth album, part ’60s psychedelia, along with a dash of Krautrock and the juxtaposition of beautifully simple melodies and harmonies with overdriven guitar and a host of otherworldly sounds.

“Sinatra Drive,” the album’s opener, sounds like a really good old Sonic Youth song, with drummer Georgia Hubley using maracas as drumsticks like Steve Shelley and guitarist Ira Kaplan playing parts of the guitar you’re not supposed to, much like Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo. The sprawling seven-and-a-half minute jam feels loose but cohesive, and Kaplan’s lyrics evoke Sonic Youth’s homespun reality testing.

“I see clearly how it ends/ I see the moon rise as the sun descends,” Kaplan sings.

The album’s title track also borrows extensively from Sonic Youth’s playbook with Kaplan sweetly singing over swirly jet engine/galactic void guitar noise.

Other songs spotlight a diverse range of influences. “Tonight’s Episode” sets propulsive Krautrock drumming against weird instrumental sounds, evoking comparisons to CAN’s Jaki Liebezeit. “Until It Happens” crams acoustic guitars and drums into a claustrophobic, DEVO-esque vibe. But the song also has beautiful touches: an indeterminate instrument that doubles the vocal melody with filigreed complexity. The conventional beauty and country lilt of “Aselestine” creates stark relief with the rest the album’s discordance, without sounding out of character.

If they really knew what was up, guitar magazines would write endless appreciations of the innovative guitar tones on “Apology Letter” instead of their near endless praise for face-melting shredding. The song’s delectable textures evoke far more emotion than flurries of 16th notes and call to mind Jim O’Rourke’s solo albums along with his work with Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy in Loose Fur.

“Brain Capers” swirls with My-Bloody-Valentine-style guitar slides and vertigo-inducing sonic swirls. Kaplan’s fuzzy guitar solo in the song is so nasty it sounds like it must involve phlegm in some way.

This Stupid World captures Yo La Tengo doing what it does best, staying true to its iconoclastic musical vision. Fans can enjoy the influential band’s latest, without worrying they will suddenly cause Ticketmaster to crash with the announcement of an arena tour.

Follow writer David Gill at Twitter.com/saxum_paternus.