Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz!

^ otm, this is sort of like complaining about the lyrics on physical graffitti

Karen O doesn't write lyrics, she improvises slogans, which is exactly what this punchy, declamatory music requires.

Secret YYYs influence: Nitzer Ebb?

heads will lol

wow at this thread. man, i hated this after the first halfhearted listen myself (It's Dogshit!, brayed i in mine infinite wisdom). then i played it in shuffle mode (alongside the new Dylan) one night and was floored by damn near every track. now i'm wondering if i may have seriously underestimated their previous effort--which, if memory serves, i only gave a cursory listen (or two) to before deciding to consign it to the black hole "rock" oblivion it so justly seemed to warrant back when--too.

I need to go back and listen to that one too. I seriously loved the Is Is EP, thought it was the best thing they'd done at the time. Maybe Show your Bones has gotten better with age?

Show Your Bones is patchy but its best moments are incredible (Turn Into, Way Out and that whole run from tracks 5 through 8).

this is great. I feel bad about not buying it. But I am poor.

Show Your Bones is patchy but its best moments are incredible (Turn Into, Way Out and that whole run from tracks 5 through 8).

― Enormous Epic (Matt DC), Sunday, May 17, 2009 5:10 PM (Yesterday)

yeah "turn into" is probably my favorite YYYs song

http://www.last.fm/music/Yeah+Yeah+Yeahs/+videos/28974809

holy shit, this is great

# sergei_RH wrote:
yesterday afternoon

I just can't make out what the vid's about

# AnUub1s wrote:
yesterday afternoon

what do you want to know? they have a fuckin piano that chages colours when you play on it, thats all you need to know....

awesome video and awesome song (much better than 'zero' imo)

is there a rolling "awesome videos of 09" thread?

There should be! This is probably my favorite so far (not that I've been following videos this year).

I love both "Zero" and "Heads Will Roll" and wouldn't really pick one over the other, largely because I'm obsessed with the middle stretch from "Dull Life" through "Runaway" and those three songs alternate between being my favorite off the album.

the middle stretch is my favourite too - whenever i listen i basically start at 'heads will roll' though

zillions of plays later this album still feels unstoppable. Glad to see the love on ILM. You are chrome

Yeah fave for me is a toss up btw 'Heads' and 'Soft Shock' (which doesn't seem to be getting much love so far).

I think my fave right now is "Runaway".

The crescendo of sculpted symphonic noise in Runaway is amazing.

baaderonixx i have a friend who doesn't like the album at all but loves "soft shock"

i love it a lot; i mixed it with a robert armani house classic recently and it goes REALLY well!

'dragon queen' is just so gorgeously LIGHT and untethered

The crescendo of sculpted symphonic noise

You sure this wasn't meant for the Sunn O))) thread?

there's a great thing karen o does on soft shock, those little shivering falsetto caws she punctuates it with

you guys are making me really annoyed that i left my walkman at home today :(

however when i get home i can put on the record :)

You sure this wasn't meant for the Sunn O))) thread?

Haha the first thing I thought of when I read that.

I love both "Zero" and "Heads Will Roll" and wouldn't really pick one over the other, largely because I'm obsessed with the middle stretch from "Dull Life" through "Runaway" and those three songs alternate between being my favorite off the album.

― Obama seems to have the views of a 21-year-old Hispanic girl (HI DERE), Friday, May 29, 2009 9:39 AM (1 hour ago)

dude i really envy you - this is like top three of the year for me but if i could feel the middle part like you and lex i would love it so much more. that stretch is the only thing tha brings it down for me

Indeed. I can get the song titles confused!

After watching way too much playoff basketball this past weekend I dreamed up the most epic NBA commercial ever set to "Runaway." The slow build drama of that song fit perfectly. Thought you all would like to know!

I listen to this album as if it were a series of EPs; "Zero" through "Skeletons" is one discrete chunk, then "Dull Life" through "Runaway", and finally the last three songs (the acoustic bonus tracks are like a bonus EP). It really echoes Lush's Gala, which was a compilation of EPs and therefore had definite "chapters" that you could listen to.

I feel like this entire album took everything I liked about "Maps" and refracted it through a funhouse prism, catching all of these different facets and shades in a whole bunch of different, unexpected ways that still allow you to piece together the original that also transcends the original; I love "Maps" to bits but it never made me want to investigate anything else by them, whereas this whole album makes me want to pick up their entire discography.

dan it's interesting that you like the way "dull life" goes into "shame and fortune" goes into "runaway" - on the album, "dull life" ends the first side - it's not a troika there

I actually figured as much, given the run times! Yet another reason why I like CDs, heh.

this just gets better and better. really feeling "dull life" and "dragon queen" today.

awesome video and awesome song (much better than 'zero' imo)

love the "zero" video, mainly because running through the rainy streets of SF in the middle of the night looks like the funnest thing ever.

I wish people would stop saying this isn't a guitar record. It totally is. There are guitars all over the place, fuckloads of them on every track. They certainly outweigh the synths.

― Enormous Epic (Matt DC), Saturday, 16 May 2009 17:33 (6 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yes! did a double take when I read a blurb abt this on one of these year end lists abt how this was their synths record

still great tho

Who's Next: synth record?

this record was a letdown for me, my favorite thing about it was the cover

is Yeah Yeah Yeahs a REAL IMPORTANT BAND of this decade or a footnote in the book of rawk along with The Vines, Jet, etc ?

Rolling Stone types seem to think Karen O is one of the last of The Rock Stars
along with Jack White I guess

I don't know what important means exactly but every YYYs record pisses on the Vines from a great height, and this is their best yet imo. It draws on latter-day era dance music a LOT in terms of mood and dynamics, though, and if you're a straight-up rock fan I can understand not really having a good foothold to latch onto there.

YYYs have absolutely carved out a place of good standing within the context of this decade. They're no Vines or Jet, that's for sure. Whether or not they'll be able to have any impact in the '10s remains to be seen (I'm pulling for them).

given their stylistic restlessness and the adept way in which they've pulled off three very distinct albums to date, i'd say YYYs have a lot more to give. as long as karen o is prevented from making any more excursions into into twee, like on that dreadful karen on & the kids song.

love love love all three albums myself

this is sounding damn good right now

I was listening to it on my way to work this morning. <3

nice! i liked it a bunch when it came out but it didn't get a lot of spins for some reason. hearing it today with the tempts up outside and little patches of grey clouds rolling by, it's just perfect

this was my Favorite Band for a while and this album is fantastic.

TBH they're still one of my favorite more recent/current bands if not my absolute fav. They're just really great and, yeah, this album is wonderful. Gonna listen to it on the way home too, I think.

The rest of the album can't match "Heads Will Roll" and "Zero," but I still love it.

Those are definitely its stars.

Was actually listening to some older tunes the other day. <3 Y-Control so much.

I am going to play Rock Band tonight and I will sing Maps which is still amazing fuiud. The video is really heartbreaking too esp if you read about the shoot.

tbh I feel like the rest of the album can't match "Dull Life", "Blame & Fortune" and "Runaway"

Listened to this today, actually. I went through, I think, a year and a half where I just wasn't listening to new music anymore at all, then I heard Hysteric and thought "damn, I'm missing things."

Maps and Y Control still kick much ass. Maps makes me wanna bang.