Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz!

I've listened to this two or three times now and I really can't tell what's a guitar and what isn't in a lot of places.

yeah i want a proper quality version asap. actually can't even deal with 192kbpbpbps any more.

Since when did everyone on this board started getting all bitrate-nazi? To me its like when people say they love whiskey and bluff about how well they can tell the difference between a good whiksey and a bad one and in reality they cant even tell the difference between black label and red label.

troo punk whisky bitrates 4eva!

lol

I don't want to just throw it in a disco synth rock ghetto, because it's a little more expansive than that. There's some real atmosphere. It's more moody than "Zero" or "Heads Will Roll" would suggest.

― Johnny Fever

more livebloggin: kinda disagree w/ mr. the dr. fever up there. both "zero" & "heads" have moody/atmospheric elements, and the rest of the record isn't a huge departure. "soft shock" and "dull life" keep that energy up on the 1st half. only track in the opening batch that doesn't quite work for me is "skeletons", which IS much more moody. celtic-y sounding cloud guitar loop bugs me, and it's clearly the musical focus.

even on the most upbeat tracks, everything seems softened, blurred, half rubbed out (heh). drums hit like marshmallows, guitar and bass churn around like soup underneath everything, even karen - vocals are much less shrill & edgy than on other records.

2nd act is less immediate than the first, but not a huge departure. "shame and fortune" kinda reminds me of "machine" for some reason, though much cleaned up (dumbed down). LOVE the talking heads/tom tom club guitars in "dragon queen". and the big, bassy synth/guitar swells. "hysteric" is GORGEOUS. 1st downtempo number to totally sweep me away (like madonna!). love the total shamelessness of "you suddenly complete me." so nice. plus "little shadow", too, which sounds just like it says.

great record. by far the best thing they've done yet. last two songs might be the best things here, and definitely the most moody, atmospheric, spare, downbeat. kinda nice the way the record builds down to them, initially setting you up for something very different (but implying the softness nonetheless).

favorites = little shadow, hysteric, heads will roll, soft shock, dragon queen (NNITO, but probably)

got a little choked up before "little shadow" was over, which basically never happens no more

yeah i want a proper quality version asap. actually can't even deal with 192kbpbpbps any more.

Haha I think it'll sound a bit like that even at a higher bitrate.

Seriously tho, has any of you bitrate-nazis considered it might not be the bitrate but Sitek's production? He seems to like turning everything he touches into walls of sound so I wouldnt be surprised if any of you couldnt tell the difference of a guitar and synth in the loudest moments even in lossless quality.

^ this. doesn't sound low-quality rip, sounds like an intentionally atmospheric production. eno damage

yeah it sounded like the right rip to me, the drums are really crisp

i'm excited!

hits are crisp when they want to be ("zero", "soft shock"), esp at the center, but often surrounded by big bruisy thuds that overwhelm the attack ("heads will roll"). i like the contrast between rough and soft, but do wish the textural guitars had a bit more tooth overall.

heavy "we float" vibe to a lot of this (i.e., pj harvey circa stories from the city...)

i love that song

me too

ppl whove heard this and are not fuckin with "dragon queen" are crazy

"hysteric" is like, the guitar waves during the chorus are so soft and subtle. it took me a little bit to catch them tho

one of their best songs ever no doubt

good live blog btw contenderizer

The last 45 seconds of "Hysteric" are the most beautiful I've heard in a song this year. OTM on the "We Float" vibe -- only better.

build up & wind down at the end of "dragon lady" is amost as good, though a bit rushed. on the third pass thru now, and "hysteric" is just KILLING me. if this isn't a serious top 10 contender come december, it will have been a very good year. bad times = good music

More like bad times = any port in a storm (I like what I've heard so far, I'm just saying!)

Seriously tho, has any of you bitrate-nazis considered it might not be the bitrate but Sitek's production? He seems to like turning everything he touches into walls of sound so I wouldnt be surprised if any of you couldnt tell the difference of a guitar and synth in the loudest moments even in lossless quality.

Yeah this was what I was getting at - if they're guitars then they're totally puréed, I'm not even sure what the opening notes of Zero are.

im glad yall are liking this because i think it's really good too. i'm really glad to see them abandoning their most questionable deerhoof impulses (which is why "dull life" is easily the worst track here, though it's not bad at all), which is what keeps me from really loving fever to tell apart from a couple of obvious incredible songs.

Has to be said, anyone who thinks there's a song on here as good as CHEATED HEARTS or MAPS is out of their 'ead.

Has to be said, anyone who thinks there's a song on here as good as CHEATED HEARTS or MAPS is out of their 'ead.

swooooooooooooooooooooooooosh

even if you were right it still wouldn't be much of an insult

It's a re-interpretation of "Blue Monday".

The bassline from that Vitamin C version of "Last Nite" is in there too.

listened to "hysteric" back to back w "maps" & "cheated hearts" a couple time. more than holds its own. not saying everyone has agree, but IMO, there's no obvious quality drop here, relative to their previous high points

a while back, i mentioned "we float" as a possible precedent. dropping down the indie coolness scale a few hundred points, i'm also reminded of U2's prom jam stylings (on "hysteric" and "little shadow" only). suppose that's bound to bum folks into the raw sounds they've been know for. FWIW, in comparative listening, i do find myself missing the physical intimacy/immdediacy of fever & bones, but the benefits of the e-pop tradeoff seem to justify the sacrifice

i might end up liking this once i get used to it but right now i'm really missing dude's awesome guitar-playing, my fave thing about this band

I missed Brian Chase's really loose, expressive drumming most of all. I'm loving this album now though, too a bit of getting used to.

so this is coming out next week now because of the leak

really into "soft shock" right now

Has to be said, anyone who thinks there's a song on here as good as CHEATED HEARTS or MAPS is out of their 'ead.

― piscesx, Wednesday, February 25, 2009 6:36 AM (1 week ago

RUN
RUN
RUN
AWAY

LOST
LOST
LOST
MY MIND

This is such a well-sequenced album, it's all about the peaks and troughs.

i think 'dull life' might be my favourite right now, it feels like the album's centrepiece

This really just gets better and better with every listen. Really digging the last 4 tracks right now, starting with Runaway. Such a good album.

<3 <3 <3

erol alkan did a remix for yyy : )

that's possibly the least surprising post in the history of ilx.

I've only heard a couple of songs so far but I've really loved them. Am excited to hear the rest. YYY at the Kentish Town Forum sometime in 2004 still one of the best shows I've ever been to. Can't wait to see them again.

After some distance for a couple weeks, I've come back and decided (for myself, at least) that this album is purely wonderful. I regret it took so long.

i heard a song in the apt the other day, ryan was playing it. it was the kind of song that made me stop and listen, and ask who it was.

It was M83, right?

nooo! it was this album. i know M83 when i hear it.

Nice video. Shame about that first sentence in AOL's writeup, though:

Leave it to Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O to tell a story through visuals.

Leave it to Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O to convey emotional states through a sequence of notes

Leave it to Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O to string together words to form "sentences"

okay maybe I'm being a dick but that sentence, urgh :(

"hysteric" stans should by the acoustic version from itunes

buy