Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!

In 2002, it took an EP and a handful of live recordings for me to believe the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were one of the best bands in the world. I was, admittedly, smitten by the NYC rock scene at the time, and as such, found the sultry-cum-raucous delivery of frontwoman Karen O absolutely irresistible.

To be certain, the YYY’s are not the same band they were 7 years ago, for better or for worse. The garage rock sensibility has been exchanged for a more naive pop sound, drifting somewhere between new wave dance and shoegaze. For their latest, the band recruited producers Nick Launay (Talking Heads, Kate Bush, INXS) and Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio, who has been consistently involved in the band’s repertoire. The final result is perhaps the most uniform full length the band has produced, and as such, it maintains a pleasant – albeit unexciting – middleground.

Lead single and album opener “Zero” is nice enough, but hardly memorable and not terribly engaging. If the goal of the first track is to pull you in to the album, it undeniably falls short. “Heads Will Roll” is an innocuous dance tune which (somewhat redeemingly) contains a sample of striking similarity to the opening theme of the mid-90’s Nickelodeon television series Space Cases. “Dull Life”, a more upbeat and rock oriented number, sounds – much like the band’s worst material – as if it was composed within 5 minutes and lazily included (with a few production effects) as just another fill-in track.

The record appears to redeem itself with “Runaway” – a ballad of sorts beginning simply with voice and piano, which slowly layers and builds to a disarming effect. The sounds on the album are apparently produced entirely by the band’s key members, namely guitar wizard Nick Zinner, who creates some soothing, almost orchestral-sounding ambience here. It sounds the most complete of any song on It’s Blitz!, surpassed only by the album’s sweetly innocent closer “Little Shadow”, whose success lies in its simple, understated lyrics and delicate vocal delivery. This, it seems, is the closest the album gets to the perfect pop song the band appears to have their sights set on, joining the ranks of “Our Time”, “Maps”, and “Cheated Hearts” from previous outings.

“Little Shadow” leaves me with the hope that the YYY’s will grow, but ultimately, It’s Blitz! does little as a whole to inspire much excitement about the current state of the band. If, however, you are content with agreeable and occasionally dreamy pop tunes, here is your momentary fix. Enjoy.

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