Yeah Yeah Yeahs

It’s Blitz (2009)

March 15, 2009

**** / ****

By Mr. Marlowe

Released 2009

Atmosphere and sweet sentiment are at the forefront of It’s Blitz!, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ third full-length album. A curious mix of White Stripes simplicity meets Throwing Muses sensibility with a heavy dose of 1980s synthesizer chutzpah the album proves an extremely fun and streamlined affair.

From start to finish It’s Blitz! stretches the minimalist guitar/synth/drum sonic template over Karen O’s sugary sweet yet repetitively primitive poetry. It’s a signature sound that works well resulting in a set of songs that creates an interesting mix of ‘80s atmosphere meets new millennium emo. Song for song and taken as a whole it is the best album the band has ever made.

Heads Will Roll, Soft Shock, and Dragon Queen are danceable injections of classic new wave just when Top 40 radio needs them most. Though lightweight in the lyric department the trio of songs offer oodles of musical creativity that should have style over substance poseurs like Lady Ga Ga taking notes by the pageful.

The band pushes away from new wave with Hysteric, a prime example of The Throwing Muses aesthetic featured center stage. The song mimics Throwing Muses’ balladry and emotional nakedness and is another case of sure-to-be Maps success, the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s biggest hit from their debut effort.

The most out there song on It’s Blitz! is Skeletons. Sounding like a crazy Celtic bagpipe lament put through an ‘80s synthesizer, Skeletons is hauntingly beautiful and sort of unique in texture and presentation. Or maybe it is an odd emo version of Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On, but in a good way. Whatever the case, it’s brilliant.

The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s are so polished at creating their signature sound yet so intent on being “artists” that even when they venture into mini-epic land with Runaway the pieces fall perfectly into place. The delay pedal is in high effect complementing Karen O’s call for home to a T. Quite simply, it is beautiful.

The final song on the album, Little Shadow will surely raise the hair on your arms. The building sweetness goes just long enough before fading away into silence leaving us happy for the trip yet wanting more. Better still, the song proves that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are more than a singles band. Little Shadow does what other Yeah Yeah Yeah’s closing songs never did: it ties the entire album into a fully rewarding and satisfying affair.

It might take some time to fully appreciate It’s Blitz! but when you do it is well worth the effort. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have never been the most obviously excellent band but with It’s Blitz! the truth can no longer be denied: they are excellent.

Best Songs: Skeletons, Heads Will Roll, Hysteric, Little Shadow, Soft Shock