By Jodi Root

Ever since I caught word that my beloved Yeah Yeah Yeahs were back in the studio with plans for a third album, I’ve been drooling in anticipation with every slight blog posting update. Album title? It’s Blitz! Alright! Album artwork? Manicured hand crunching egg yolk stop motion? YES! First track “Zero?” Synthed up glamour pop nightmare! (Sure, I noticed an absence of guitars, but the 80’s John Hughes-ish keywork was undeniably catchy dance party). Second track shortly after by way of Kanye University, “Heads Will Roll?” OMG. OMG. OMG. So dark and seductive, dance floor anthem!!!! Jodi was very, very pleased.

But then the full album leaked.

Since then, everyone’s thrown in their two cents of yay/nay. And at first, all I could focus on was what I had previously heard—the two singles, which are, let’s face it thrashtastic hipster dance delight. But then when my excitement of finally copping mp3 versions of these two addicting tracks wore out, I finally managed to flip through the remaining 8 tracks. And what were my thoughts? Well. . . I think my friend Arlo summed it up best when he posted on my Facebook wall, “Have you heard the new YYY record yet? I think I like it. I think you’ll like.” This was my first impression—“thinking” I liked it. Because, well, it’s the Yeah Yeah Yeahs! And I’ve adored every and anything they’ve recorded. I’ve been enamored with the grittiness of both the Machine and Self-Titled EPs, the impeccable debut Fever to Tell the more recent tightass rock factory EP Is Is, and of course, the last studio attempt, Show Your Bones.

But first full listen of It’s Blitz!? Ehhhh . . . Like back with Show Your Bones, I knew enough not to trust my first impression just yet. I remember the day I picked up SYB clearly, and it was a very special day indeed. But shortly after popping the yellow disc in my stereo, I quickly caught onto YYY’s transitional style—where was the shrieking? Grinding guitars? Thrashing, inaudible rock madness? Well, it certainly wasn’t on that album. Ehhh . . . But after enough listens and attentive patience, I grew to love the album in its own and it remains in regular rotation to this day. I discovered that after the two synth pop intro tracks on It’s Blitz!, the remainder of the record is significantly slowed down and a much more intimate collection of tracks than what we YYY fans are accustomed to.

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“Soft Shock,” the third track on the disc, follows the insanity of “Zero” and bangin’ anthem “Heads will Roll.” It’s a solid overall track, with its echoic vampy electro pulse and Miss O’s seductive gasps “Catch your shut eye, in my bed room.” If I hadn’t heard the other two songs first, however, a more solid impression would have been left in my head with this number, instead of nearly getting overlooked by my ADD dance-over.

The five minute “Skeletons,” features the delicate side of Karen O’s vocal work, with tender crooning, wavering and cracking into higher pitches breaking off into rasps. Slight percussion picks up and blends into even more synth bedding. A slower and pretty instilment, but, kind of boring.

Then we bust into into the best track, hands down, of the record—“Dull Life.” This is as close to older YYY material as we’re gonna get, with Zinner’s guitar work on display and Karen’s repetitive shout/singing style in full effect, almost a hybrid number of what we’d find on Fever to Tell with Karen’s Show Your Bones vocal style. Slower build-up until about the one minute mark when Zinner’s guitar skills crank up and O jumps into her singing/shouting/chanting/wailing combo. I can only imagine how kickass this track must sound live, most likely anything but dull indeed.

The second half of the album is still yet to grow on me as much as the first, in all honesty. “Shame and Fortune” comes in around 3:30, with typical YYY swagger (not super remarkable but far from bad), reminding us that Zinner still knows how to play the guitar—but Karen’s vocals barely sway from her spoken word/barely yelling mode.

“Runaway,” the seventh track, is the polar opposite to SYB’s “Honeybear.” Where in “Honeybear”, Karen shrieking, demands atop an up-tempo guitar bed that you “Run away! Run away if you want it!,” “Runaway” features a delicate pleading/confession, “Run, run, run away, lost, lost, lost my mind. Want you to stay, want you to be—my pride.” This then leads into an instrumental build-up of what sounds like strings vs. synths, a nice change up for sure, and then crashing into a vulnerable yet beautiful breakdown with O confessing, even rock goddesses can be “All alone, not so strong, without these open arms to hold on tight.”

Up next is the less than spectacular “Dragon Queen.” I don’t get it. Seems oriental dance clubish—with maybe a bit too much synth play and less than stellar hook. Even the YYY are allowed a filler track or two.

“Hysteric” follows next; and it’s another example of the slower melodic pace exemplified on this record. That’s ok; this song is pretty and again boasts the vocal range capabilities of O, showing us in addition to her mad shrieking and howling skills, she’s also a very good singer.

Concluding this forty minute collection is the super soft and gentle “Little Shadows.” Now it’s probably just because I’ve only been able to listen to two records non-stop for the past week, It’s Blitz! being one and Middle Cyclone the other, but Karen O almost comes across Neko Case-ish with her delicate delivery. The track is gorgeous and intimate, on a different plane than any other YYY track, maybe closest comparable to FTT’s “Modern Romance,” but with a fuller sound. The muffled vocal work is reminiscent of “Maps,” dominating the soft guitar and organs piecing together a very still, pretty folk melody. “Little Shadows” is the perfect closing track for this album, mirroring the come down from an energetic night out at the clubs we were so beat from dancing at all night with the help of the Zero’s and Heads will Roll’s.

Will you like the new YYY record? It depends: A) are you a die-hard YYY fan? B) Are you okay with synths vs. guitars? (Think along the lines of a John Hughes soundtrack, circa 1985 C) Are you open to change? (Cuz this chapter is def. different) If you answered “Yes” to any of the above, then mark April 14th on your calendars now in preparation of this drop date. I’m not sure what blitz even means—if it’s a noun or an adjective—but regardless, this is it. I’d guess it’s a mix of the unexpected meets a night out on the town, but who am I know for sure? It’s just Blitz!

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