"Zero" To 1980 In Ten Tracks

Yeah Yeah Yeah's

It's Blitz

Interscope

Action Rating: 7/10

So let’s just get the cat out of the bag right away: the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have made a dance album.

It’s completely normal to be struck with awe and perhaps confusion at this moment. Following the releases of 2006’s Show Your Bones and the Is Is EP in 2007, the New Yorkers were looking for their next challenge.

The first two tracks double as the first two singles. “Zero” is the perfect way to debut the Yeah Yeah Yeahs new direction. It is totally different from anything they have ever done. Immediately, 1980’s synth-pop groups like Ah-Ha jump to mind. Yet, the more you listen to it, the more infectious it gets! It’s a track that’s hard to sit still to. And if that wasn’t enough change for you, you get “Heads Will Roll,” which immediately throws you face-first into the nightclub. Cue the strobe lights and lower that disco ball.

“Dull Life” is definitely the track you should check out. It is undeniably a continuation of where the band was heading after Show Your Bones. Nick blows the dust off his guitar that collected while you were listening to the tracks that preceded and hits back with full force.”We sing the nightmare of the lies that you speak/The beast that I lie beneath is coming in.” A close second is “Shame and Fortune.” Karen O’s voice bends and weaves in and out of Zinner’s riffs like a serpent.

“Hysteric” is a track that rounds out the album as the rainbow that appears after the storm. Karen’s voice is soft and sincere in each verse to the chorus. “Flow sweetly, hang heavy/You suddenly complete me/You suddenly complete me,” floats like a dandelion caught in a breeze.

“Soft Shock”,”Runaway” and “Little Shadow” could get tossed. They never really make it past mediocre. “Dragon Queen” , however, is for sure a throw away. It sounds as if they’ve made an extra effort to reintroduce straight-up disco to the 21st Century. Although you can pick up TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone’s voices in the chorus, their falsettos only add to the time warp. It’s not so much a throw-back to the seventies’ disco era is a terrible thing. The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s have earned themselves a particular fanbase that fell in love with the sounds YYY’s have been producing over the past 7 years. The changes definitely require some getting used to.

It's Blitz was originally set to be released April 14th of this year; however, the album got leaked over the internet February 23rd. So they have pushed the official release up to March 31st and made It’s Blitz available for download on iTunes and Amazon.com on March 9th. Online you can also download acoustic versions of “Soft Shock”,”Skeletons”,”Hysteric”, and “Little Shadow.”

Standout Tracks: Zero, Heads Will Roll, Skeletons, Dull Life, Hysteric, Shame and Fortune

album review by: Pam Wichert (contributor)