Yeah Yeah Yeahs - s/t EP
(Touch and Go)
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are a three piece (guitar, drums, vocals) from New York
City, who have been hailed by the press as the next Strokes, or something. Their live shows are supposedly sexually driven ('crazy' gal singer), sweaty, hard rockin' affairs. I had heard they were good, so I anxiously awaited their EP, which Touch and Go recently re-released.
It starts off with an angular guitar pattern, accentuated well by a minimal drum part as Karon O whispers "Bang bang bang, the bigger, the better." The tone of the guitar is somewhat similar to Arab on Radar's 'bass-y' guitar (the low end is HEAVY, and the high end sounds like an electric current). The minimal lineup pushes the guitar up high in the mix, which, when you have that guitar tone, is great.
"Mystery Girl" begins a bad trend for this EP with a tendency to play sub par blues. Getting way too close to being a 12-bar (it essentially is), "Mystery Girl" completely destroys the momentum they had going with the first track. "Art Star" is the standout worst track. It starts off sounding exactly like Cake, then, quickly takes a nosedive into the even more aggravating sound of Kittie. Wow.
The last two tracks are more along the lines of the first. They are good, but not great. If there hadn't been two really bad songs before them, then they would have made the EP better. But, the way it is, it just makes these songs sound less convincing. "Miles Away" is straight rock, while "Our Time" slows down, and vocally offers the most melodic moment on the EP. But, the melody is directly taken from the chorus of the far superior "Crimson and Clover." Again, had the middle of the EP been good, I would probably think this was a charming reference to a great song. Instead, it just sounds stolen.
As for them being the next Strokes, sure, they're from New York, and their music has blatant references to older bands and styles. I can see that similarity. And, I don't know, maybe they wear really nice clothes or something because that's where the similarities end. Where the Strokes make no attempt to forge any new 'sound' or ideas, they can write good songs...an area where, at least on this EP, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are sorely lacking.
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