Blitzing the old, bringing back disco.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs always has been a cool band. It’s lead singer, Karen O, is fashionable, crazy, passionate and energetic. She oozes the cool up front while “the other two” thrash about on the instruments, trying to make exciting noises. They’ve always succeeded in the latter. Yeah Yeah Yeahs debut album proved that. All guitars and shouting, bringing in the indie cool and showing off their softer side with the instant classic, ‘Maps’.

This trick was later followed up with ‘Show Your Bones.’ An album full to bursting with finger-on-the-pulse guitar-based noise, with a dash of melody and a couple of hit singles. They’d hit their stride and proved that they were one of the more important guitar bands around and they had glitz and glamour.

After a long break, which included a great EP dubbed ‘Is Is’, Yeah Yeah Yeahs have come back and this time, they’ve all but forgotten the guitar. Nick Zinner’s skills aren’t sidelined in anyway, of course. It’s just time for a change. The lead single, ‘Zero’, showed off their intentions perfectly. There will be less rock and roll noise and shouting and more glamorous groove.

And with this mission statement, YYYs have created an album full of shiny dance floor pop/rock. This isn’t an album like the other two, it’s something new. A new direction? Yes. A horrible idea? HELL NO. This album still retains YYYs cool. It still has the glitz. But this time you want to dance it to all night long, possibly in a shiny outfit with some glow sticks in hand. ‘It’s Blitz!’ also stands a chance for best cover of 2009 too.

‘Zero’ is, of course, the opening track on ‘It’s Blitz!’ A track which sees the band start as they mean to go on. Its killer beats and synth hark back to ‘Date With The Night’, but this time there’s disco involved. It’s sparkly and exciting and it doesn’t stop there. ‘Dull Life’ is probably the only track here that sounds anything like “old” YYYs. There is Zinner guitar and Karen O shouting, but there is a twist. Notice how damn catchy it is.

We get presented with ‘Heads Will Roll’, a thumping, new wave track with synth-aplenty. This track builds to its chorus and then Zinner lets rip on his guitar. You can’t help but nod your head and tap your feet when it all kicks in and as it gets funkier and funkier you want to dance more and more. No mean feat for an indie band. The same can be said of ‘Dragon Queen’, another keyboard rocker with Blondie written all over it.

And then we come to ‘Hysteric.’ This track is ‘Maps’ bastard child, with Karen O singing about feeling complete and all that jazz. It’s a love song for the nu-rave generation. I just hope they have left nu-rave behind and are embracing the sound of Yeah Yeah Yeahs instead.

Great album, earning its ! Straight away. Just make sure you’ve got your dancing shoes ready before you press play.

Further Listening:
Blondie - Parallel Lines
PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
Does It Offend You, Yeah? - You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into
Sons And Daughters - This Gift
Bloc Party - Flux (Single)