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Yeah Yeah Yeahs
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Show Your Bones
Interscope Records
Release: 3/28/2006
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Rated:
Review by:
Morley Seaver
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When a band takes three years to put out a record, you get
scared thinking that they're going to pull a Guns 'N Roses
and never come out of the studio again. Or maybe they're
taking so long because the material sucks. When it comes to
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, you can forget about those concerns. With
Show Your Bones, they've completely blown
away any doubts about their latest material because this is
an awesome CD.
Yes, (I mean Yeah) vocalist Karen O, guitarist Nick Zinner
and drummer Brian Chase are still quirky and, yeah, they
still have the manic energy, which drives a lot of their songs.
However, the songs on this record are far and above
anything they've recorded in the past, more mature - but not
in a boring way. There are 11 cuts here and none of them
suck...not even a little bit.
The mysterious "Gold Lion" starts off things with a measured
but confident pace. It's the first single and will stick in your
head for weeks. "Way Out" is tremendous with a great
melody line. The almost military intro of "Fancy" commands
your attention all the way through, leading up to the chunky
guitar lines of "Phenomena," where Karen has one of her
best vocal performances so far.
The energy gets pumped up for "Honeybear," which is
excellent. "Cheated Hearts" holds close to the same level of
excitement, in the vein of "Pin" but without the manic parts.
"Dudley" is a bit more subdued than most on the record but
could be a sleeper cut. It's rave-up time for the next song,
"Mysteries" which features a brief but sprightly Nick Zinner
guitar solo.
The last three cuts represent a bit a departure for the band
and as much as I love old YYYs, these three songs are the
best they've ever done, by far. I had been doing other stuff
while listening to this record for the first time, but when
these three cuts came on, I had to stop and just stare at the
CD player for their duration. They're beyond excellent. The
sound is a bit more mature and shows a band that is far
beyond the quirk-factor value and jelling into tremendous
songwriters.
"The Sweet" starts off slowly with a sparse arrangement that
features Karen's distinctive vocals. Gradually the cut builds
into a tour-de-force with Zinner's beefy guitar lines.
"Warrior" starts off much the same way as "The Sweet" but
it has an interesting verse arrangement. The pace picks up
and Karen's vocal here is utterly compelling. The song
reverses itself and ends up subtly, leaving your mouth
hanging open. Closing off the record is "Turn Into," a bouncy
cut that vaults to the finishing line, leaving wide smiles in its
wake. You will love this entire record but again, these three
cuts have been on a constant loop since I got the record.
Show Your Bones shows a band that is hitting
their musical stride with a bang. They are obviously
confident in their new material. I just saw them in Montreal a
few weeks ago and they played everything from the new
record, starting off the show with four out of the first five
cuts. Along the way, they drove the crowd into a complete
and utter frenzy, provoking smiles throughout the band,
causing them to laugh and say, "This is one of the best
crowds so far." All the material translated well in a live
setting, even the slower cuts. If this record doesn't go
octa-ruple (?) platinum, then my distrust of the general
population is justified...'cause this record just smokes! |
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