I'm going to go ahead and skip over the fact that Soulja Boy Tell 'Em (official name)'s new album iSouljaBoyTellEm (could not make this up) and absurd new single "Kiss Me Thru the Phone" (yes, it's every bit as stupid as the title suggests) are racing up the charts, and begin my frenzied, ecstatic rant about the fact that Yeah Yeah Yeahs' third album, It's Blitz, has leaked...and is glorious. On account of the leak, the savvy YYYs have pushed forward the release date until March 10th, but obviously I'm impatient, so here's the review a week before it officially drops. I love Lady Gaga (as I have reiterated one too many times) as much as the next closeted hipster music fanatic, but if you want to name one woman currently recording who has most successfully dialed in on the magic ratio of subversiveness to artistry to good fucking music, there is none other than Karen O. That being said, and although I'm a big proponent of anything Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I must admit that I, like most, have always been very aware that while their live performances are, as one of my friends described, "like seeing jesus and having sex on e at the same time," their EPs tend to make promises of a sound revolution that their full lengths have not yet cashed. I say this tentatively, as Fever to Tell was nothing short of miraculous, and Show Your Bones wasn't half bad, but they were certainly not the cohesive, life-changing albums that many had hoped and prayed for after hearing The John Peel Sessions, per se. It is this very reality that has garnered Yeah Yeah Yeahs the incredible cult following they enjoy, but have kept them a few shy of Radiohead status, if you will (longevity excluded, evolution excluded, in retrospect...a very sketchy analogy, but you get the point).Now, onto It's Blitz. For the first time their full length feels like an album. From start to finish, it sounds like a coherent artistic piece, and a prolific one at that. Each track not only functions well on its own, but complements its preceeding and proceeding tracks perfectly, keeping in mind the vision of the album as a whole. Though It's Blitz has got less of a basement session feel than their earlier stuff (Nick Zinner replaces crunchy guitars with a plethora of synth sounds expansive enough to make even the Pet Shop Boys raise an eyebrow), it's not overly-polished. Luckily, this time around the acoustic sound that only half-worked on Show Your Bones exists solely as bonus material on this album.
"Zero," the leadoff single, has a backbone of 150 bpm (or something in that ballpark...) and the heart of a lion. Karen O's snide signature yelping vocal snaps, "You're a zero. What's your name? Noone's gonna ask it." And then she bitchslapped the wanker with her mic stand.
"Heads Will Roll" is a catchy, dance hall anthem gold-plated and covered in glitter. It's what Kanye wishes he could have come up with on 808s. Nick Zinner is a musical genius. It's catchy. It's ethereal. It's 3 am on the Lower East Side. It's indie rock electronica at its absolute finest.
"Soft Shock" is about as close to "sweet" as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are gonna let on. This haphazard tribute to the sadness and awkwardness of reuniting with an ex painted with their undeniable flair is as poignant as it is earnest. Over the lowlit synths, Karen O's vocals are like a suckerpunch to the heart.
"Skeletons" has a quality that I haven't heard in their music since "Maps." It's a stripped down, slow anthem. A snare drum marches in the background and crescendos slowly. Karen O's voice croons without any of its signature yelping strain, while Nick Zinners synth/guitar puts a quiet din upon which Karen O's vocals can soar. And soar they do. Haunting. Gorgeous.
"Dull and Life" and "Shame and Fortune" are a refreshing reminder that the early, hard-hitting,fuzz-guitar fiends are still alive and kicking. Though neither track presents an aspect of Yeah Yeah Yeahs we haven't seen before, they serve as a healthy reminder that these kids can conjure up their signature filthy rock sound on command just as well, if not better, than ever.
"Runaway" is the surprise track of the album, in a similar way that "Gold Lion" was. Though it's not as album-defining as "Gold Lion" was, it's the mark of yet another direction the Yeah Yeah Yeahs can veer into, and master. It's a haunting track that flirts with the border between alt. and pop . It begins with Karen O's voice accompanied simply by a piano and turns into a pleading ballad that is unmistakably Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but will take any die-hard fan a minute to adjust to - after which they, like anybody else, will have no choice but to, as Lennon might say, turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream. Oh no, it is not dying.
"Dragon Queen" deserves to be played in the sleaziest strip club in Chinatown among sordid people doing sordid things. It's creepy, it's weird, and makes you feel creepy and weird for liking it, which you will. You may even experience an aching desire to dance. With a pole. Surrounded only by the sleaziest of people. Do it. Karen O thinks that's cool.
"Hysteric" is another gorgeous slow track that whirls lazily until it stumbles upon it's stunning revelation of a chorus, which, though melodically indistinguishable, pierces like a light through the fog, "you suddenly complete me." Revel. Waver. Lull. It just feels right.
The album closes with "Little Shadow," which is a freak-show gem. It's like two midgets who fell in love at the carnival. It's bizarre. And adorable. And makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. And then the smell of stale candy apples sets in. And you realize you don't belong in this crazy world where everything is fun and weird all the time. And it's time to go. But you'll be back. You always come back.
To say this is the best album I've heard this year is not doing it justice. It is one of the best albums I have ever heard. Maybe it's the fact that it's 4 am, or the fact that I have just spent the past 2 hours listening to Indian Ragas, Kecak Vocal Gamelans and Tuvan Throat Singers (studying for a World Music exam i.e. 2 minutes more of world "music" away from legitimately ripping out my ear drums), but with the help of savior Karen O and her incredible Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I think I'm in love. Learn it. Live it. Love it, too. Hard.
Zero - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
