Definitely one of the coolest bands to follow in the 2000’s, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were one of the bands that everyone went crazy for, such as The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem and Interpol. Karen O had an incredible, bossy voice and their sound was an arty/punk mix. They were cool as f**k and played the part perfectly. ‘Fever To Tell‘ is their debut record, following up from two EP’s. This record was huge, it’s now sold over 1 million copies, and though there was a lot of competition, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs sound and presence set them apart.
Checking the tracks before you even put in the CD, and judging by the cover, you could make a pretty good guess as to what kind of record this is even if you didn’t know who the band were. Yep, you guessed it, Christian Rock. Kidding, speedy, probably loud and probably punk-ish. And it is, though it’s actually called ‘dance-punk’ on Wikipedia…
The record consists of 11 tracks, mostly short but all well put together and as they wizz by you can’t find too many spots where they’ve missed a beat. Some songs such as ‘Rich’, are incredibly catchy. In this one they pull all their powers together and make it know what they’re all about. ‘Modern Romance’ and ‘Maps’, the most recognisable song on the record, as more slow paced but enveloping. You get sucked in and rather than being blown away, you get to see the softer, more artistic of the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. The noise levels that the band work through are evident in songs such as ‘Man’, where the song begins with a solid drum beat before erupting into a rock song. I’ve always enjoyed diverse songs, it doesn’t bother me if I’m enjoying one riff and to see it suddenly flip. Two further tracks that I’ve always loved are ‘Y Control’ and ‘No No No’, the latter breaking in the middle before taking off again in a soft drum solo.
Of the other tracks, I can take them or leave them. There’s a consistency here that bothers me at times. You might love it, many many people do, I just get a little bored of it at certain times. BUT, as a whole, it’s a record I’ll always pop back in to to check up on.
As I was doing my usual bit of research for the reviews, I was thinking about all these brilliant bands that lead the post-punk revival in the early 2000’s. Sure, there are more well know bands such as The Strokes, but Interpol, The Hives and The White Stripes, but the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were in the mix too. All of these bands possibly have their best days behind them, it’s still great to hear their stuff. It’s still genuine. It’s still rock ‘n’ roll….
G.M
Photo Credit: wikipedia
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