Cool It Down: Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Review

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

are a New York indie rock trio who became one of the definitive indie acts of the 2000's with massively acclaimed records like It's Bliss and Fever To Tell. The band released their 4th album Mosquito in 2013 but it was met with shrugs from critics and disappointment from fans. After nearly 10 years the band has returned with a new project backed by a lead single collaboration with Perfume Genius. 

Review by Lav:

If you're the kind of person who is stupid you could look at my body of work and call me a Yeah Yeah Yeah's hater. While I am not quite as head over heels for the group as many who appreciate the era they came from, I still have a lot of love for their two best records. Given that I was pretty mild on Karen collaborative record with Danger Mouse a few years ago and I never want to hear the previous Yeah Yeah Yeah's album ever again, it's been a while since I really loved something that was YYY parallel. The closest thing probably being Karen O's collaboration with Parquet Courts and Daniel Luppi Milano, which is admittedly very underrated. 

Going into this record I was admittedly kind of excited and that is almost exclusively to do with the two singles teased in the lead-up to the project. Spitting Off The Edge Of The World had me really quickly with its Perfume Genius feature. Turns out Karen and Mike can be a wonderful match for each other and the plodding pace of the song does a lot to fit their vocal chemistry. Combine that with how the hook rushes into the track giving it a genuinely climactic conclusion to reach and you've got a great lead single. However, you could argue that Burning is an even better single that I've loved since the first time I heard it. The moment the track kicks into the hook is absolutely amazing and Karen's slightly whiny vocals just soaring over the bouncy drums is a perfect combo. It's the best vocal performance on the record and everything else just falls into line. 

In terms of big highlights beyond those tracks, the record is scant. Wolf sees the record reaching a new dramatic peak with these cascading squelches backing up the chorus and a huge thumping beat that gets introduced in the second half. Everything is wrapped up in this dark presentation that I find very compelling. I also think the closing track Mars is quite nice. The way the chimes in the instrumental back up Karen's spoken word vocals through that sonic filter is great work. If not for the slog that makes up the records closing run I think I could appreciate this track more. 

While the rest of the songs here aren't great, some are certainly more admirable than others and I can envision good versions of songs like Lovebomb and Blacktop. The former once again tries to play it very lowkey and I don't hate it. I like the spoken word interpolations and the distant instrumentation on the hook shows a pretty impressive reservation. Unfortunately the refrains just really do nothing for me and they're arguably made even worse by how long they linger around uninterestingly. Blacktop by comparison is more of an uphill battle because it kicks off with these stiff programmed drums that I don't like at all and they never really go away. Karen plays it pretty loose with her refrains and the further dips into spoken word all remind me of a Jenny Hval song. Honestly though I just don't find Karen's writing or singing nearly as interesting as Jenny's. The best thing I can say for the song is that it provides a valuable deep breath after Burning in the tracklist. 

I can't say I have much praise for Different Today though. Describing something as "lame" makes me feel like a 10 year old playground bully but it's just the best word I can think of to sum up why this track isn't working. It has some of the elements I would want to hear in a good YYY song but they don't really add up to anything and by the time we hit the "spinnin, spinnin, spinnin" refrains I have no patience left for it. Somehow even worse is Fleez which must be what YYY songs sound like to actual YYY haters because Karen's attempts to sound cool or mysterious or edgy or whatever on the song make it basically unlistenable. It comes off as a series of non-sequitur refrains in front of a pretty forgettable instrumental that just flop one after another making for a pretty terrible song. 

While this isn't the worst record Yeah Yeah Yeah's have ever dropped it certainly falls far short of their best work and of the hype drummed up by its two very solid singles. Turns out those are easily the best songs on the record and some of the only ones I can envision myself returning to. The only thing else I can really say for the record is that if it was always going to be this inconsistent of a listen, I'm glad the band was able to keep it to just 32 minutes. 5/10

Album Cover Review by Tyler Judson:

This cover is humorous and I like this idea but I would have composed it differently. I wouldn't have has the grey background and stuck to a square composition, or if the grey was kept I would have filled it with some sort of texture, pattern or branding so occupy it beyond just blank space. I really like the colors used and it could've been more successful with just a few tweaks. 5/10

For more indie check out my review of Angel Olsen's Big Time here