Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz! (2009) CD Review
Zero, Heads Will Roll, Hysteric, Runaway, Skeletons
Jun 27, 2009
Karen O. and Co. are back, and this time they’re taking over the dance floor with the alt-pop record of the decade. The guitars have been scaled down, and the synthesizers have come out in full force, in this (dare I say it?) radio-friendly, electronica album.
On It's Blitz!, Karen O leads the group in a bold reimagining of the band’s music, venturing way beyond the parameters of the New York rock revival scene into something more artistic, more elegant and far more esoteric. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are the masters at creating album after album of completely new sounds, and this one, their third full-length album, is no exception. Quite simply, It’s Blitz! is the band’s pop album.
It’s Blitz! Songs
Lead single “Zero” demonstrates immediately that this is no experimental album. “Zero”, is a high-octane stomper that pulsates with thumping beats, agile guitar stammers and Karen O’s banshee-like screech that will make fans instantly want to “get their leather on”.
No YYY’s song has ever been as expendable, repeatable, or just plain fun as “Zero”, and right there lies the beauty of the song and the album. Though the band has always played around with mainstream songwriting a tad, this is the record where they come right out and embrace their pop sensibilities, and never have they sounded more comfortable.
Karen O’s distaste for wallflowers is made abundantly clear in the synthesizer heavy, rocking head-bopper “Heads Will Roll”, a tune that pulls you in and doesn’t let go. With its, "Dance, dance, dance 'til you're dead" anthem, “Heads Will Roll” is a forceful track to be reckoned with and begs to be played over and over again.
The piano-led beauty “Runaway” has a fragility and warmth that adds a nice touch and it gradually develops into one of the album’s many highlights. Karen O gives in to her inner “Maps” on the quiet and reserved “Skeletons”, and on the tearjerker “Hysteric”, a mid-tempo ballad where everything falls perfectly into place.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs Past and Present
Make no mistake, despite the changes, this is still a Yeah Yeah Yeahs album at its very core. They still write great pop rock songs and focus on well-crafted melodies. It’s Blitz! is more full-bodied and ethereal than anything they’ve come up with before, and despite the change in sound, the trio are still the vanguard of cool, or the bee's knees if you will.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have overhauled their sound with each and every record, and though some fans may inevitably get lost in the ruckus, it’s hard not to be impressed by a band that wants to continually challenge themselves sonically. It’s Blitz! breathes with the aplomb of a band that has found a way to evolve into something slick and commercially viable without entirely saying goodbye its seedy garage-rock past. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have once again raised the bar – both for themselves, and for the wannabes that lag behind them.
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