Link: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Inside Pulse:
You may have heard the song “Maps” or better yet seen the captivating live performance from (really?) the MTV Movie Awards. Regardless, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are a little New York punk-ish band that has caught the attention of a lot of people. So what do they do when the whole world (or at least a surprisingly large portion of it) is watching? They fuse their energy with a does of Gwen Stephani-like credible pop and release a truly interesting and powerful album.
There is no “Maps” here. Or “Art Star” or anything that replicates previous stand out tracks. That doesn’t mean it’s completely new. This is still a Yeah Yeah Yeahs album. They are just less angry or vulnerable or whatever it is this time around. This is the sound of a break up album re-adressed after the fire’s cooled and you’ve considered some of the harsher tones.
Never fear, they still know their way around a beat, a lick and a shriek, and this album should not be confused with anything Sheryl Crow or Avril Levine has put out recently (Liz Phair just said “Ouch!”) but there’s a pop element about Show Your Bones that is not at all uninvited. As Karen O says, “Sometimes I think I’m bigger than the sound,” and she is absolutely right. Replicating anything from the past would be a mistake if it’s not what the band wants to do today. Especially not when this album is the result.
Positives:
– The songs run the spectrum from Pretenders-like new wave to dance-friendly punk-pop, all deeply infused with the signature Yeah Yeah Yeahs feel. If you like previous efforts from the band and have an open mind, you’ll like this.
– There really isn’t a slow spot or any clearly skip-able songs. The band sounds great and everyone is more than doing their job to make the disk sound interesting at every turn.
– Karen O continues to be one of the more interesting characters in rock and roll.
Negatives:
– I know I said that there not being any “Maps” is a good thing, but there isn’t really any song that approaches the emotional power of that song. Granted, that’s a very high bar, but I didn’t set it now, did I?
– Everything sounds good, but it’s hard to tell if it’ll have the staying power that Fever to Tell had.
Cross-breed:
Imagine PJ Harvey fronting U2 circa 1984 (minus the bass, of course) doing songs co-written by Bends-era Thom Yorke and Gwen Stephani.
Reason to buy:
You like artsy power punk and don’t mind a bit of pop.
