(Courtesy of Interscope Records.)
Wowzers! I know I’m a bit late reviewing this but if you haven’t heard “Zero” yet, the first single off Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ latest album, you’ve got to check it out. As far as lead off singles go this year, it’s up there with Franz Ferdinand’s "Ulysses" and Metric’s “Help I’m Alive”, and perhaps better than either. And with the brash dance anthem “Heads Will Roll” following it as the one-two punch that kicks off It’s Blitz!, it proves that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ new synthtastic approach to music has paid huge dividends.
Sadly though, while the synths stick around for the duration of the album, the energy and enthusiasm of those opening two songs soon dissipates into a parade of ballads, some more successful than others. “Skeletons” falls into the less successful category for me. A lot of reviews of It’s Blitz! seem to love “Skeletons” and maybe I’m missing something, but to these ears it sounds like one of the weaker tracks on the album. Like most songs on It’s Blitz!, the lyrics of “Skeletons” aim to evoke emotion rather than have any literal meaning. This works fine when paired with a beautiful melody or an interesting piece of music, but fails here where Karen O’s simplistic “Skeleton me / Love don’t cry” lyric slides limply into a five-minute long succession of drawn-out atmospheric chords. To his credit, Brian Chase tries to build the track up with some tribal drums, but it’s like dressing a corpse up in a tuxedo; it can’t hide the fact that its heart isn’t beating.
Unfortunately, “Skeletons” is the beginning of an uninspired middle section for It’s Blitz!. “Dull Life” attempts to rock out like Fever to Tell-era Yeah Yeah Yeahs but about a minute in, Nick Zinner leads the band into some generic rock riffage from which the song never recovers. And so far as I can recall, “Shame And Fortune” also attempts to bring some energy to the affair, but after ten listens I can’t remember a single noteworthy thing about it.
Thank goodness then for the shimmering funk of “Dragon Queen”, where Nick Zinner’s guitar and Brian Chase’s drums lock into a tight disco strut. It’s the only song on here where the endless Blondie comparisons have any basis at all, but even with Karen O cooing instead of squealing, it would sound about as at home on Parallel Lines as a giraffe in Antarctica. Combined with “Runaway”, “Hysteric” and “Little Shadow”, “Dragon Queen” helps round off It’s Blitz! in convincing enough fashion, even if by the end of the album, the headrush of “Zero” and “Heads Will Roll” is long forgotten.
Although the balance between the more uptempo tracks like “Zero” and the out-and-out ballads is still decidedly skewed towards the ballads, It’s Blitz! proves to be a bold step in a new direction for Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And if it sees them leaving behind the guitar squall and vocal histrionics of past glories, it certainly doesn’t desert the ambition, energy and songwriting chops that characterize their best work.
Sadly though, while the synths stick around for the duration of the album, the energy and enthusiasm of those opening two songs soon dissipates into a parade of ballads, some more successful than others. “Skeletons” falls into the less successful category for me. A lot of reviews of It’s Blitz! seem to love “Skeletons” and maybe I’m missing something, but to these ears it sounds like one of the weaker tracks on the album. Like most songs on It’s Blitz!, the lyrics of “Skeletons” aim to evoke emotion rather than have any literal meaning. This works fine when paired with a beautiful melody or an interesting piece of music, but fails here where Karen O’s simplistic “Skeleton me / Love don’t cry” lyric slides limply into a five-minute long succession of drawn-out atmospheric chords. To his credit, Brian Chase tries to build the track up with some tribal drums, but it’s like dressing a corpse up in a tuxedo; it can’t hide the fact that its heart isn’t beating.
Unfortunately, “Skeletons” is the beginning of an uninspired middle section for It’s Blitz!. “Dull Life” attempts to rock out like Fever to Tell-era Yeah Yeah Yeahs but about a minute in, Nick Zinner leads the band into some generic rock riffage from which the song never recovers. And so far as I can recall, “Shame And Fortune” also attempts to bring some energy to the affair, but after ten listens I can’t remember a single noteworthy thing about it.
Thank goodness then for the shimmering funk of “Dragon Queen”, where Nick Zinner’s guitar and Brian Chase’s drums lock into a tight disco strut. It’s the only song on here where the endless Blondie comparisons have any basis at all, but even with Karen O cooing instead of squealing, it would sound about as at home on Parallel Lines as a giraffe in Antarctica. Combined with “Runaway”, “Hysteric” and “Little Shadow”, “Dragon Queen” helps round off It’s Blitz! in convincing enough fashion, even if by the end of the album, the headrush of “Zero” and “Heads Will Roll” is long forgotten.
Although the balance between the more uptempo tracks like “Zero” and the out-and-out ballads is still decidedly skewed towards the ballads, It’s Blitz! proves to be a bold step in a new direction for Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And if it sees them leaving behind the guitar squall and vocal histrionics of past glories, it certainly doesn’t desert the ambition, energy and songwriting chops that characterize their best work.
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