Fever to Tell

by

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

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Fever To Tell successfully follows through and expands on the promise of the YYY's first 2 EPs. From the first notes of Rich you are already hooked. The best way I could describe it would be like this: think of the Stooges with impecible pop smarts, fronted by the illegimate daughter of Siouxsie Sioux, Lene Lovich, Nina Hagen, Joan Jett and Joyce De Witt. This is just guitar-drums-voice, but NOTHING like the White Stripes (who I like for different reasons). The depth of the sound on songs like Y Control is just incredible considering.

Karen O's voice is in top form. She displays an impressive range on the stunning, majestic, beautiful

"Maps". This song, along with "No, No, No", and "Y Control" aptly show the future promise of this band. "No, No, No" is my favorite, with it's simmering vocal and slowly built up verses that explode in an impressive 1970-Black-Sabbath-via Siouxsie-and-the-Banshees kind of way. God, I hope that makes sense. The song concludes with a trippy 2 minute long dub that is just SO pretty.

"Rich" and "Y Control" both feature amazing treated guitar lines that sound like synths. Very Missing Persons sounding. Magical pop songs that get stuck in your head immediately.

Music for a twisted Beach Party...

"Date With The Night", "Man", "Tick", "Black Tongue", "Pin", and "Cold Light" rock seriously hard. Just try not to dance during any of these. I totally dig the almost surf rock and fantastic chorus of "Black Tongue". The choo-choo train that is "Tick"! The infectious ness of "Pin". The incest anthem "Cold Night" has that "Beat on the Brat" guitar thing going on after 1:15 or so. There's subtle tempo changes and hooks everywhere. This is what pop music should be like.

There's even an AMAZING Velvet Underground pastiche called "Poor Song" that is hidden after "Modern Romance".

Whats refreshing about this band is they are not being postmodern or ironic. I saw them live in LA 2 weeks ago, Karen couldn't stop smiling. They actually love what they are doing and you can tell they had fun making this album. You'll have even more fun listening to it. I haven't been this addicted to an album in years. BUY THIS!

It's almost as if the Yeah Yeah Yeahs exist so that Williamsburg hipsters can take time out of moussing their faux-hawks to proselytize about this band's energetic hype, inevitably dividing their opinions in underground downtown zines titled "Yeah Yeah Yeah" or "No No No." Relax guys.

This Brooklyn band is actually rather good, and their proto-punky, garage rockin' sensibility has matured here, on their first full album. It's true the band has an infamously unpredictable live-show rep, and yes there's been hype, and yes the band used teaser EPs to create that hype. The first EP had a song or two that demanded attention, such as "Art Star", which circulated religiously around the downtown club scene, but their follow-up EP, "Machine", was almost universal in its complete and total lack of appeal.

Which is why "Fever to Tell" is quite a surprise. As with the White Stripes, the sound is full and loud, but there aren't many of them (in this case, three). Unlike the White Stripes, they do not sound like accomplished musicians. They do not sound like they know much about music at all. Then again, this is a nu-version of garage rock, and let's remember the Pixies didn't really know how to play their instruments either.

This is a Brooklyn band, and while Brooklyn has been home to the Electroclash craze of late, this album seems almost a smirking response to that movement glorified by DJ Larry Tee and such, with its grainy, raw, barebones sound. The music is filmy and sweltering. It verges on performance art. The band gives itself a bit more room to play than your typical garage-punk trio, which is why I've termed a new genre for the YYY, who are already influencing a myriad of young bands coming out of New York at the moment: Brooklyn Warehouse-Theater Rock. Do you think that's cool? Will it stick?

Nick Zinner's guitarwork is not glam-flashy, it shows his control of rushed, simple, solid chords, and Brian Chase on the drums provides the necessary simmering backbeat, but they are both supporting actors here. The album is dominated by the achy, quavering, vertiginous voice of Karen O. She is quite a presence, and the more I think about it, she is a lot like Bleu Cheese: 1) Definitely an acquired taste 2) Nasty if allowed out for too long 3) Blue-veined, belligerent, and crumbly. It has become a Bedford-Avenue-Loft Parlour Game of late to compare Karen O. to her CBGB's mentors, but that is because she is a singer who shows her influences. If you are not familiar with their sound, I think it does help to make comparisons, so you know what you're in for. In my opinion, abandoning the cheese metaphor for a sec, if Karen O. was a shattered vase, you would find large shards of Patti Smith, Siouxsie Sioux, PJ Harvey, and Nico's work with the Velvet Underground. You would find smaller shards of Debbie Harry, Laurie Anderson, and Kim Gordon's work with Sonic Youth.

"Pin" is my favorite song on the CD. It has a brutally-intense build to it that explodes into an Abstract Expressionist Punk chorus of wails and caterwauls. It is unique, it is memorable, it is weirdly haunting. I have no idea what it's about. The album unfortunately opens with one of the weaker songs, "Rich", which boasts a seductive Glittery-Zinner-Guitar-Hook, and has Karen, oddly sounding like a drunken Cher, bemoaning "I'm rich!" Other strong tracks include "Date with the Night", "Black Tongue", and "Man" because they are surefire rockers, tunes you can have sex to, or dance to in some dark, filthy club off the highway. Karen O. uses her voice well on these songs, vocally inhabiting characters we will never know much about.

On "Tick" we're regressing again into screech-territory, but I appreciate the band's efforts at musical mutation and growth with slower, brooding, more uneven songs such as "Y Control", "Maps", and the listless "Modern Romance" which descends into silence, and then into the apartment of Lou Reed for the hidden closer. These songs aren't entirely successful, but they work on some level, and are enjoyable to listen to. Similarly, songs such as "No No No" and "Cold Night" bring the band nowhere new, but aren't necessarily weak. They just could have been stronger. In fact, a united, somewhat stronger vision could take this band even farther. On a final note, the production is tight, grounded, and wisely hands-off.

Then again, I don't think I would mess too much with Karen O., a woman whose voice could pierce the walls of a monastery and send all the monks running to the nearest open field for solace.