Yeah Yeah Yeahs EP - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

...York turn of phrase. Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It’s silly, it’s sexy, and it’s a cry to the music world to come on, get up, dance, scream, and party.

This is their first EP, released a long time ago now and once tough to get hold of (it’s self-titled, actually, not called Master…but for ease of reference let’s stick with that). It’s a dazzlingly varied selection of five tracks, powered by just guitars, ...
...O, art-garage-punk-rock-whatever’s first lady of Cool. THE fashion icon of the moment, her vocal style bears some comparison to Bikini Kill/Le Tigre's Kathleen Hanna, but with a vastly more varied array of squals, moans and general inarticulate madness. This woman gets straight to the point. Kicking off with ‘Bang’, first ever single and a grimy, sexy sing-along over a jolting guitar riff, you know she means business. ‘As ... more

It’s been a year since I heard this record. The world hasn’t been the same since.

So yes, all over the hype-mongering music press, they’re talking about a revolution. The New Rock Revolution, to be specific. Kicked off by the Strokes, stripped bare and bluesy by the White Stripes, darkened by BRMC, this has resulted in almost every second-rate guitar band on the planet – especially those lucky enough to hail from Down Under or New York – being heralded as the next Saviours of Rock.

Well, sometimes it’s true (Interpol) and sometimes it isn’t (The Vines, anyone?). But undoubtedly the most exciting band of the moment are this three piece, hailing from Brooklyn, and taking their name from the most common New York turn of phrase. Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It’s silly, it’s sexy, and it’s a cry to the music world to come on, get up, dance, scream, and party.

This is their first EP, released a long time ago now and once tough to get hold of (it’s self-titled, actually, not called Master…but for ease of reference let’s stick with that). It’s a dazzlingly varied selection of five tracks, powered by just guitars, drums and the dishevelled, squealing, panting vocals of Ms Karen O, art-garage-punk-rock-whatever’s first lady of Cool. THE fashion icon of the moment, her vocal style bears some comparison to Bikini Kill/Le Tigre's Kathleen Hanna, but with a vastly more varied array of squals, moans and general inarticulate madness. This woman gets straight to the point. Kicking off with ‘Bang’, first ever single and a grimy, sexy sing-along over a jolting guitar riff, you know she means business. ‘As a f*ck son, you suck...’ – this is not a band to be taken too seriously. Except for some serious fun. ‘Mystery Girl’ runs like a B-movie plot, ‘Art Star’ is fabulously full of feed-back, shouting and tongue-in-cheek lyrics (‘Sh*t, I got a *squeal* gallery in New York!’), plus a bizaare 'doo doo doo' singalong chorus, making it one of the most varied songs you'll have heard in a long time. ‘Our Time’ is a calmer, more melodic end to the record, the perfect anti-anthem for the swelling, youthful underground/alternative scene. While the other band members are quite happy to play second fiddles (or guitar and drums) to Karen, their musicianship is strikingly good.

For me, the highlight is the stunning ‘Miles Away’ – one of the shortest songs here (and that’s saying something). A throbbing guitar line, percussion supplemented by Karen’s panting, clapping and squealing and the most empowering, trashy, punky chorus for years (‘And you’re more beautiful than ever!’) make you feel like dancing round the room in scruffy Converse, ripped fishnets and a ra-ra skirt, right there and then (yes, she can pull this off). Fine if you’re on a night out at Trash, but just don’t do it in the middle of double Maths.

Though I originally had to hunt this down in a Rough Trade shop, it's become widely available in high street shops/chain stores, so no-one has any excuse!

Why have I left it so long to write about this record, if it’s so amazing? Well, it’s more important now than ever. YYYs have a new album out, and though I haven’t heard it yet, they have a lot to live up to. It’d be wrong for people to think they’ve exploded into ultimate coolness out of nowhere – it’s taken months of touring and quality music (combined with media savvy, devil-may-care sleaze and incredible dress sense!) to get them this far and this is one band who deserve it more than most of the others out there.

The one question is whether, once the aching fashionable garage-rock scene dies away, this band can still feel this good. But thinking like that is really totally irrlevent. Yes, it’s perhaps style over substance. No, it’s not politics, or social commentary. But if it doesn’t inspire you to dress up, go and have the time of your life, throw your cares to the wind and just enjoy life and who you are then you’re most probably dead. ‘It’s our time sweet baby...to break on through’ sings Karen on Our Time. She’s right, as always.
 

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