Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz!

Or not. I mean, if there's already venom...

not a big fan of "zero" at all but "hysteric" and "heads will roll", thumbs up.

i heard zero right after maps on a music vid show yesterday and it didn't stand up to maps very well at all. didn't exactly get me in the frame of mind to investigate the album

It's not fair to use "Maps" as the yardstick for this album (or for most albums). "Zero" isn't the best place to start either, because I can see how someone could easily dismiss the album as a dance-rock version of what YYY's have always done. I'd start with "Little Shadow" or "Hysteric" to see how well they've adapted to shlocky power balladry (but the BEST kind of shlocky balladry -- trust me, this is a compliment).

This is a pretty solid record. But I'm ready for Zinner to move on to his These Immortal Souls/Crime & The City Solution phase.

this album is tremendous!

I listened to the first album today and the jump in quality between the first and third albums is enormous, but the blueprint to this record is pretty much all there in the pairing of Maps and Y Control.

All of a sudden they're my favorite band.

me too i think!

the animal collective remix of zero lives up to its title

four and a half minutes of nothingness

why the fuck did they let animal collective anywhere near their music

haha i was thinking of you when i was listening to it, actually. i obviously like AC quite a bit more than you do but this just doesn't work at all. a 7" with the remix as the b-side was included in the preorder I ordered

on 50th or so listen of "hysteric". this album is great!

They didn't play Hysteric when I saw them on Sunday :(

Really? How harsh. They did it on Saturday, but no Little Shadow or Runaway, both of which I would happily have swapped an older song for. Great show though. Karen O came on wearing a neon headwrap which made her look like an Egyptian rave mummy and seemed genuinely, unaffectedly joyous from start to finish. I envy anyone who will see them at a festival this summer.

I love this album more and more. "Shame and Fortune" doesn't get mentioned that often but I notice that it's the song I'm mostly likely to stop on and just revel in.

I've been ridiculously slack on getting the album. Too many things out there to listen to right now!

Off off off with his head.

Complaints complaints.

Also, I have to admit that "Hysteric" and "Little Shadow" have made the least amount of impact on me.

i didn't get the rapture over 'hysteric' for ages - it's still not one of my absolute favourites but it does sneak up on you

Also, I have to admit that "Hysteric" and "Little Shadow" have made the least amount of impact on me.

You may want to check out the acoustic versions, if you haven't heard them yet. The string quartet version of "Little Shadow" completely floored me.

I've got them. They still haven't really made an impact on me.

"Soft Shock" and "Skeletons" OTOH...

"Soft Shock" is such a bomb!

Love the late-period Siouxsie feel of "Runaway"

lol so I turned my iTunes up and now I see why ppl are so all over "Hysteric" and "Little Shadow"

I'll take "Hysteric" over "Maps."

Still having a problem with how this album starts, it's like a bad Republica.

LOL

okay that melted my brain

wau

also I need to do something about how my iTunes is organized because segueing from this album into the Kidz Bop cover of the Crazy Frog version of "Axel F" is kind of jarring

lol

Thanks for the heads up about turning up the volume. I didn't get the song either until just now doing just that.

the Kidz Bop cover of the Crazy Frog version of "Axel F"

okay that melted my brain

has anyone done the inevitable sawtooth synth bassline remix of "soft shock" yet, and if not why not

I'm eating lunch.

Pretty OK. Still not wild about the way they record her voice, but I agree re: ballads that they're getting more accomplished and interesting.

OK, this is pretty awesome:

Just picked this up and it floored me. Two spins so far, easy top 5 album of the year so far.

See, that, I don't get. I just don't understand how some yelping over MOR indie electro-dribble could floor anyone. I like it, it's OK, but I never got why they were huge in the first place. I dunno. It feels like when people were telling me that the Strokes were saving rock, and I just o_0

What is it that floored you? What evokes such a hyperbolic response? I know you're a regular here, so you can't be just hearing music like this for the first time… What specifically connects?

I just don't understand how some yelping over MOR indie electro-dribble could floor anyone.

dumb description of this album yo

What is it that floored you? What evokes such a hyperbolic response? I know you're a regular here, so you can't be just hearing music like this for the first time… What specifically connects?

I've been a mild YYYs fan over the years since their first EP/album, always thought they were fine enough but never loved them. This album to me feels like the culmination of what they've been working towards.

The songs are up to par, but they've toned down and become more subtle since the early stuff but "maturing" (in a good way) in the process. The "rockers" are catchy and interesting without having too straightforward of a structure all the time; the "ballads" hold my attention without sounding sappy or boring. Every track is different. Almost every track is memorable after two spins; it sticks with me.

There's more going on than a few chords and Karen's yelping; her vocals are complex, more subtleties; she is finally as captivating as she's always meant to be. She's not going over the top with her oft-touted "sexuality" which I found tiring on, say, the first album. Her intonation and expressiveness is top notch.

Nick's guitar pokes its head out now and then, but he's a fantastic instrumentalist aside from just guitar; look at the liner notes, dude does more than just guitar here. The drumming is fantastic all around.

The production is great all around. One of those albums that sounds way better on a good stereo than on earbuds, which is not the norm lately. It's very refreshing. Other posters have described the production better than I could, please refer upthread.

How's that?

I like it, it's OK, but I never got why they were huge in the first place. I dunno. It feels like when people were telling me that the Strokes were saving rock, and I just o_0

For the record, this is how I felt when Fever to Tell came out. I thought Show Your Bones was better, by no means a coherent album but showed potential. They were stretching themselves a bit and making errors in the process. This new one feels like a complete statement. It hold together well and it's their best album so far.

OTM. My feelings exactly.

definitely. good post ilxor.

For the record, this is how I felt when Fever to Tell came out. I thought Show Your Bones was better, by no means a coherent album but showed potential. They were stretching themselves a bit and making errors in the process. This new one feels like a complete statement. It hold together well and it's their best album so far.

Not to undermine my snarky pseudo-description above, but I agree with all this. I do think this one feels complete, I do think it holds together well, I do think it's their best album so far. I'm just not getting the "floored." I'd rate it a solid B, not an A+ must buy, y'know? So I was wondering if there was something that kinda catalyzed it into a ZOMG moment, but from your comment, I think it may just be that strange distance between like and love; subjective ears.

Is anyone saying it's an A+? I haven't heard an A+ album in years.

Thanks. Of course, a lot of my love could be due to lesser expectations... I saw the album came out a few weeks ago, shrugged; read the praise in this thread, was a bit intrigued; found a used copy last night, picked it up and WHAM! there it was, a fully realized album length work from a band with previous bits of greatness. I just didn't see it coming!