The Critical Asshole: Listening to...

It’s little soft, but…

…the elements of a good, listenable album here. Seriously.

I went ahead and bought the single “Gold Lion” from the iTunes music store. You know what? It’s pretty dry—and not in a good British food type of way. On first listen I had the same guttural reaction a reasonable person would have after listening to a praise and worship band at a Baptist church in Texas: dirty in a kind of acceptable way. So what? The single sucks, but fans of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs aren’t single-minded anyways; or at least they shouldn’t be.

The distinctly and uncannily polished sound on the band’s sophomore effort is attributed to Sqeak E. Clean (brother of YYY frontwoman Karen O’s former beau) whom Karen O. collaborated for the haunting Addidas TV ad hit “Hello Tomorrow,” and Alan Moulder (who gained notoriety for his production of My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless”). And so the great debate roils on: clean vs. raw, or as my friend Nick would say “Does it Rock, or does it Roll?” My bias leans heavily toward YYY’s major label debut “Fever to Tell” in all of it’s hipster, NYC art school loveliness. I think part of appeal of garage rock is the assurance that it is something that the nearest adult figure in your life would crinkle their nose at.. There’s just no crinkle factor here.

While I (or more importantly you) might not hold this in your treasure trove of favorite albums—the stack you pull from to impose your musical tastes upon your friends via mix tape or Party DJ Takeover, it is by all accounts a “good” album. All of our favorites are still here: Zinner’s guitar still roars and moans like a premenstrual banshee. Brian Chase’s so-simple-it’s-genius drumming still charms, and Karen O’s vocals, while a bit more subdued and limited in range, still retain the same element of tenderness that sold us on Fever to Tell’s hit single “Maps” in the first place.

Advisory note to YYY fans: Don’t sweat the small stuff. Just because it doesn’t sound “quite right” doesn’t mean it’s a bad album. It’s different. Isn’t that the reason that your parents said you were special?

A few tracks of note:

“Phenomena” - Sexy, stylish and hard. Kind of like Marilyn Monroe meets Eastern Europe.
“Honeybear” - Destined to be a fan favorite at the live show. The danceably Spanish chorus tune will make you shake your fist (in a good way).
“Cheated Hearts” - Plain Jane Indie Rock can’t get any better.
“Dudley” - Delicate and sweet like “Maps” with unoriginal lullaby melody.