Trio Approves of Matador’s Moves : Pop music: Yo La Tengo is benefiting from its association with the label, which has ties to Atlantic.

Yo La Tengo, a trio fronted by a singing former rock critic and his drummer wife, has been kicking around rock’s cult fringe for close to a decade, releasing its albums on an assortment of small, independent labels.

The Hoboken, N.J.-based group’s latest album, “Painful,” is also on an “indie,” but one with a difference. Matador Records began a high-profile affiliation with Atlantic Records a year ago, and Yo La Tengo is among those reaping the benefits.

“Painful” has already become the group’s best-selling record. The trio is on a high-profile tour as the opening act for Scottish power-pop favorites Teenage Fanclub, and even appeared on network television last week, performing on Conan O’Brien’s late-night NBC program. (It plays a solo show Friday at the Casbah in San Diego and returns to open for Teenage Fanclub at the Palace in Hollywood on Saturday.)

“Things have changed some for us,” says singer-guitarist Ira Kaplan. “I’m not too clear how much of it is Atlantic and how much of it is Matador and how much of it is just circumstances. . . . But we’re pretty sure we wouldn’t be going on the Conan O’Brien show if we weren’t tied to Atlantic.”

Such corporate patronage is probably the last thing that Kaplan and his wife, Georgia Hubley, expected when they began playing informally together. Starting with their “Ride the Tiger” album in 1986, they established themselves as quirky disciples of the Velvet Underground and the Kinks, crafting an evocative blend of dreamy, ambient folk and grinding feedback blowouts.

“We really tried not to have ambitions and expectations,” says Kaplan, whose group is rounded out by bassist James McNew. “I think if we did we wouldn’t be around today. If we had set any kind of timetable nine years ago, we would have missed it. We’ve really just tried to look at it as short term as we can for as long as we can.”

They slowly built an audience and finally reached the self-supporting stage, and now the association with Matador is giving them an additional boost. They’re part of an eclectic roster of some 20 acts--from singer-songwriter Liz Phair to underground heroes Pavement--whose impeccable credentials of coolness meet tantalizing commercial potential.

All of which has made the New York-based Matador the hippest indie since Sub Pop set the stage for Seattle’s rock explosion in the late ‘80s.

The key to Matador’s emergence has been its innovative partnership with Atlantic Records. The record-industry giant owns half of Matador, which still operates as an independent--manufacturing and distributing some of its product on its own and releasing some of its records through Atlantic.

“They’re not followers of trends, they set trends,” says Atlantic President Danny Goldberg, who “relentlessly” pursued the Matador deal in his bid to make Atlantic a force in alternative rock. “They’re totally oblivious to what other people think is good. There’s very few people with the talent or the courage to follow their own instincts that way.”

For an artist like Yo La Tengo’s Kaplan, that musical acumen counts for a lot.

“One of the things I like best about them is that we trust their musical instincts,” he says. “It’s easier than usual to take their advice and not question their judgments. I think we see eye to eye with them.”

Matador co-owner and co-manager Gerard Cosloy, who joined the company shortly after it was founded in 1988 by his longtime friend Chris Lombardi, downplays the label’s role.

“I’ve always believed that if Yo La Tengo were given that equal footing and the same opportunity to be seen and checked out as the Lemonheads and Counting Crows or something like that, they would come out of it pretty well.

“We’re not the artists, we’re just a conduit. . . . People romanticize record labels far more than they ought to.”