Rock, Metal

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Is Is [EP] (2007)

2010-04-30T21:02:45Z

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Is Is [EP] (2007)


1. Rockers To Swallow  3:11	 
2. Down Boy	3:52
3. Kiss, Kiss	2:44
4. Isis	4:00
5. 10 X 10	3:44

Karen O - vocals
Nick Zinner - guitars
Brian Chase - drums

Halfway between Fever to Tell's saucy rave-ups and the somber, slower sound of Show Your Bones, the Is Is EP is a welcome reminder of how potent the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are when they're firing on all cylinders. It also reaffirms that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs may be at their best on their EPs: Is Is delivers sleekly nasty rockers and vulnerable moments that are often more focused than the band's album tracks. Though the songs here are balanced between the extremes of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' sound, their performances sound wilder than they have in a while, and the production -- which is neither too raw nor overcooked with studio fussing -- shows them off perfectly. "Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow" is savage and spare, taking hairpin turns from precision to chaos as Karen O unleashes vocals befitting her rep as one of the iconic women in rock of the 2000s. Nick Zinner and Brian Chase sound just as fiery and inspired on "Kiss Kiss," one of the soaring, earnest songs the Yeah Yeah Yeahs deliver from time to time just to show that they're not too cool to sound excited. Is Is's slower songs keep the energy and focus of the louder tracks: despite its dominatrixy title, "Down Boy" sounds a little like a slowed-down version of Show Your Bones' "Phenomenon" -- or even a little bit like a much slower cover of Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" -- and "10 X 10" shows that O's prettier style of singing can fit into the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' sound just as well as her feral side. Not surprisingly, Is Is' title track is the standout, a majestic, fiery, and heartbroken epic that feels like the opposite of "Maps." Most of the songs here were written in the time between Fever to Tell and Show Your Bones and seemed to disappear after they were previewed on the Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow concert DVD, so it's nice to see them get a proper release. Is Is may not be the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' most immediately accessible music, but it is some of their most compelling work in some time. ---Heather Phares, AllMusic Review

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Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito (2013)

2013-06-04T15:59:41Z

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito (2013)


01 – Sacrilege
02 – Subway
03 – Mosquito
04 – Under The Earth
05 – Slave
06 – These Paths
07 – Area 52
08 – Buried Alive [Ft. Dr. Octagon]
09 – Always
10 – Despair
11 – Wedding Song

Musicians:
Karen O – vocals, bass, keyboards, design concept
Nick Zinner – guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals; mixing (12, 14, 15)
Brian Chase – drums, cymbal, percussion, vocals
+
Money Mark – keyboards (1)
Dr. Octagon – vocals (8)
Choir
Michael McElroy – choir leader (1, 4)

Since Fever to Tell, with each album the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have challenged their audience with their changes, and Mosquito is no exception. A 180 from It's Blitz!'s flashy electro sheen, the band's fourth album downplays synths, programmed beats, and other gadgetry in favor of drums, guitars, and a mix of rock and inward-looking ballads that occasionally recalls Show Your Bones. Karen O, Nick Zinner, and Brian Chase reunite with longtime producers David Sitek and Nick Launay -- who were honorary members of the band by this point -- and they take the trio in any direction they want to go. Since "Maps," some of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' most exciting songs show their vulnerability, and to a certain extent, this is true of Mosquito. O sounds full-throated and full-hearted as she sings "your sun is my sun" on "Despair," the kind of unabashed love song the band has excelled at since that breakthrough power ballad. Likewise, "Wedding Song" -- which O actually sang at her nuptials -- is genuine and intimate enough to strike a near-universal chord. At other times, the band's quieter side just doesn't connect: while "Subway" cleverly loops samples of the train into its percussion, it's a little too successful at capturing an introspective mood; the sparkling, vaguely exotica-tinged "Always" is pretty, but doesn't ring as true as the better love songs here. Meanwhile, Mosquito's loudest songs are more playfully nostalgic than ferocious, which in its own way is in keeping with the album's often reflective tone. "Area 52" and the title track spin tales about aliens and bloodsucking bugs that are much sillier than the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' early days; as impressive as O's wail still is, there's a campiness to these songs that almost feels like the band is having a fond laugh about when they used to do this all the time. Indeed, they sound most engaged on Mosquito when they're somewhere between its extremes.

The lead track, "Sacrilege," showcases their way with a slow-building epic and plays like a more daring kissing cousin of Madonna's "Like a Prayer" as O sings "Fallin' for a guy/Who fell down from the sky" as a gospel choir rises up to meet her -- a risky move, since adding it to rock songs can be transcendent but more often than not just sounds like corny co-opting. Here, it actually works, and the way that the band incorporates dub elements on "Under the Earth" and the excellent "Slave" -- which sounds like Siouxsie and the Banshees recording at Studio One -- and the cameo from Dr. Octagon on "Buried Alive" are nearly as impressive. Something of a grower, Mosquito has perhaps the widest range of sounds and moods the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have ever presented on one set of songs. It might not be as cohesive as their best albums, but the standout songs rival their finest moments. ---Heather Phares, allmusic.com

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Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones (2006)

2010-01-19T10:37:42Z

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones (2006)


1  	Gold Lion
2 	Way Out
3 	Fancy
4 	Phenomena
5 	Honeybear
6 	Cheated Hearts
7 	Dudley
8 	Mysteries
9 	The Sweets
10 	Warrior
11 	Turn Into
12	De Ja Vu

Drums, Percussion, Guitar – Brian Chase 
Guitar, Keyboards – Nick Zinner 
Vocals, Piano, Omnichord – Karen O

As explosive as they seem on the surface, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are also an ambitious, thoughtful band and keep pushing the boundaries of their music. They moved from the rawness of their early EPs to the polished art-punk of their first full-length in just over two years, and this drive to keep topping themselves led to breakthroughs like Fever to Tell's gorgeous ballad, and hit single, "Maps." After taking three years to follow up Fever to Tell, and scrapping many of the songs that they wrote while on tour supporting that album, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs returned with Show Your Bones, the yin to their debut album's yang. While Fever to Tell and "Maps" dealt with falling in love (and being more than a little freaked out about it), Show Your Bones is a breakup album. If the Yeah Yeah Yeahs had made this album earlier in their career, Karen O's cutting lyrics and Nick Zinner's choppy guitars would've sliced the poor ex to pieces; after all, on "Bang," from their self-titled debut EP, they (hilariously) wrote off a lame one-night stand with "as a f*ck, son, you sucked." Show Your Bones, however, tries to go much deeper than that. The album's rockers are surprisingly restrained: the cryptic lead single "Gold Lion" (sounding like a mash-up of Love and Rockets' "No New Tale to Tell" and Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Peek a Boo"), which eventually worms its way into listeners' heads, is surprisingly subdued compared to previous singles. Aptly enough for the kind of album it is, Show Your Bones' softer songs are some of its strongest: "Dudley" sounds a bit like Sonic Youth covering the nursery rhyme "Hush, Little Baby," while "Cheated Hearts" is a big, rousing ballad in the vein of "Maps." And, as on Fever to Tell, the band loosens up as Show Your Bones unfolds. "Mysteries" is a jealous cowpunk number that sounds tossed off, but has more bite and fun in it than the rest of the album. On "Turn Into," they take this twangy sound and turn it sweet, resulting in one of their best songs yet. However, too often heartache overtakes the band's sass and attitude on Show Your Bones. Actually, sass and attitude sound like the perfect antidote to heartache -- and, quite possibly, what ails the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. ---Heather Phares, AllMusic Review

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