You are on page 1of 2

1/26/2011 Picks of the Past: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

http://arhythmius.com/id26.html Go MAY JUN JUL Close

5 captures 21 Help
4 Dec 04 - 21 Jun 06
2005 2006 2007

Picks of the Past: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Home

About FF The World's Most Belated Review of

Pick of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs


Moment

Picks of the Past

Special Artists

Plugs

Personal Space

Blog

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

If there were a Grammy for Best Band Name, then “Yeah Yeah Yeahs” would be a lock. Gawd, what a
cool name. Of course, it just so happens that there IS a Grammy for Best Alternative Album, and
Yeah Yeah Yeahs WERE nominated for it in 2003. They didn’t win, but at least it gave me an excuse
to point out how much I like their name (I’m sure they’d all feel much better knowing that).

New Yorkers have been enjoying Yeah Yeah Yeahs shows for a while now, and the New York Times
said that they put out the best album of 2003. However, like most people, my first exposure to their
music was earlier this year, when commercial radio finally started playing the single “Maps” from their
full-length debut album Fever to Tell. Even L.A.’s Y-chromosome-obsessed KROQ stuck it in regular
rotation, which is a testimonial to the song’s power. Yes, I used the word “power”: The song is a
stunning homage to 1979-era Pretenders, and it stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard it. I
recall thinking, “How could that not be Chrissie Hynde singing?!” (Even Chrissie’s hairdo is replicated
on Karen O in the video.)

But then, I found myself thinking that a lot when I finally listened to the whole CD – except the names
kept changing. “How could that not be Exene? How could that not be Siouxsie Sioux?” And so
forth. See, not only are Yeah Yeah Yeahs not like the Pretenders (“Maps” being just about as close
as the band gets to a ballad), they’re not exactly like any of the bands evoked in their music; that’s the
difference between “influenced by” and “ripoff of”.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs consist of vocalist Karen O (whose very name is an inadvertent tribute to rock
goddess Wendy O of the Plasmatics), drummer Brian Chase and guitarist Nick Zinner. That’s right,
there is no bass in this band – kinda like fellow Grammy nominees White Stripes. Indeed, the first
several tracks on Fever to Tell demonstrate the same kind of Southern-bar-band-meets-British-
Invasion sound that Jack White perfected; only now, it's been punked-out and kicked-up a few
notches, Emeril-style. It’s great, if you like Southern bar-band rock, or live rock shows in general, yet
it doesn’t seem to translate all that well to a 2004-era CD player. Still, “Rich”, the lead track, definitely
has the chops to be a single, although whether that fits into the record company’s plans is unclear as
of this writing. The deeper cuts on the album return us to the friendly environs of New York punk, and
while it is familiar territory, the neighborhood got a whole lot better once Karen O moved in.

What’s interesting is that the more restrained tracks are very successful in their own right. They may
feel incongruous, but they’re not forced. The guitar part in “Y Control” echoes that in “Rich”, but the
mood is the opposite, as Karen sings, I wish I could buy back / The woman you stole. And the
replay.waybackmachine.org/…/id26.html 1/2
1/26/2011 Picks of the Past: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
wonderfully stripped-down “Modern Romance” puts you right out of the mood, with Karen observing,
Love is wrong / It never lasts / And there is no / Modern romance.

Despite allegedly being formed as a joke (or perhaps because of it), this band sounds utterly solid.
You can’t help but admire every one of Nick Zinner’s informed licks, or the way Karen O lets her voice
descend into a rasp, or the way Brian Chase adds a fill right where it needs to be. It all sounds like
expertly storyboarded chaos, and not because these people are phony or artificial, but simply because
they all know what the hell they’re doing. This extends from the music to the persona of Karen O
herself, a rock star who knows her audience, and always looks and dresses amazingly cool.

Having said all that, I still feel that listening to a digital recreation of Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ music is
something of a wasted exercise. You just won’t get a whole lot from pushing the “play” button and
hearing Fever to Tell come out of your speakers. That’s because Yeah Yeah Yeahs were created for
the purpose of rocking you in a live venue; and listening to the CD only makes you wish you were ten
feet from the stage in an overcrowded club, screaming out marriage proposals to Karen O, and hoping
against hope that you will be the one baptized by the stream of beer she just spat into the crowd.

Brian Chase, Karen O, and Nick Zinner

replay.waybackmachine.org/…/id26.html 2/2

You might also like