Yeah Yeah Yeahs It’s Blitz! Rating: 6.2 Label: Interscope Records Release: March 31, 2009

Evolution kills.

So goes the conventional wisdom in indie rock circles. Band forms, Band makes record, Band gains loyal following of hardcore fans. Band gets bored, Band begins to evolve their sound, hardcore fans scream bloody murder, sellout, etc. It’s a tiresome cliché, and not just because it’s asinine to expect hyper-creative people like musicians to keep churning out the same thing year after year. Some of the greatest pop music has been born out of such experimentation. Fans flipped their lids when Dylan went electric, but he seemed to know what he was doing. The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds initially even turned off members of the band. For more contemporary examples, one need look no farther than Talk Talk’s last few releases, or Jamie Lidell’s transformation from techno wizard to neo-soul pop singer. But the cliché is a cliché for a reason; evolution is a tricky process, and many that try end up alienating the very people that launched their careers. And unfortunately for Nick Zinner, It’s Blitz, the 3^rd LP from New York City trio the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, is not his Pet Sounds.

Zinner, the man behind the group’s non- drumming/vocal sounds, seems to have grown bored with his guitar. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as the guitar is somewhat limited sonically, but he seems to dabble with mediocrity on his synthesizer. The synth sounds that dominate It’s Blitz are trite and hackneyed, never venturing too far from standard pop and new wave fare. One exception is the mellow album closer “Little Shadow,” in which Zinner melds his acoustic guitar and an organ into the mix, creating a rich, full sound. Unfortunately, it can’t save the track, which would have been better served by a conscious Karen O.

The charismatic and eccentrically dressed frontwoman has always been the public face of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, her vocal intensity setting the tone for their high-energy sound. She hints at these origins on the album’s first couple of tracks, but between producer Dave Sitek’s surprisingly slick production and the synthesizer, even those tracks seem uninspired. And as good as “Maps” was, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have always been at their best when they are loud, noisy and fast. Her lyrics have never been poetic (or even remotely dense) but the sassy, raunchy, funny and even a little nasty persona she built on such classics as “Bang,” “Art Star,” and “Rockers to Swallow” is nowhere to be found. Karen O (and subsequently, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) personified raw, powerful and angry; on “It’s Blitz,” she merely sounds like a former spitfire on too much Klonopin.

The tepid feel of the new LP may come as a surprise to fans of 2007’s Is Is EP, a 5-song bomb that reminded many of why this band blew up in the first place. It’s everything this record is not; loud, brash and raw. It was refreshing to hear after 2006’s Show Your Bones LP, which, despite yielding memorable moments like “Gold Lion,” hinted at the new direction in which the band was headed. But the EP was deceiving…all 5 songs had been written during the tour for 2003’s Fever To Tell and have been live favorites since. Is Is was more a look back at where they had been than a peek at where the band was going.

Despite the disappointing nature of “It’s Blitz,” the album isn’t a total loss. “Dull Life” and “Shame and Fortune” both hint at what the band used to be, even if the former’s guitar riffs suffer from a radio-rock slickness. And Zimmer isn’t completely inept with his synthesizer, as he proves on the minimalist “Skeletons.” A slow jam with a fantastic intro, it evokes memories of “Maps.” But Karen O sounds bored on tracks like “Dragon Queen,” and even when she tries to amp up her energy, like on “Heads Will Roll,” it comes across as disingenuous and uninspired. This is never more prevalent than on lead single “Zero,” which would not sound out of place on the new Kelly Clarkson album.

But is it possible that this ultimately failed experiment in synth pop was necessary for their evolution? It’s not that the group has lost their talent–rather, they’ve lost their motivation (not hard to imagine, being successful rock stars and all). More accurately, they’ve lost their inspiration, and seem to be searching for it. But if they’ve burned down the idea of the Brooklyn noise rock band they used to be, then out of the ashes, the phoenix shall rise. Buried at the end of the new record, “Hysteric,” with its sweeping chorus, Karen O’s breathy “Oh Ohs” and chants of “HYSTERIC!” may just be one of the best songs the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have ever recorded. Admittedly, it doesn’t sound much like the rest of their catalogue; could it simply be an aberration, a beautiful mistake? Or is it a hint of things to come?

Video:

“Zero”

Written by: Matthew Ismael Ruiz on March 31st, 2009 | Filed under Music Reviews