Yeah Yeah Yeahs “It’s Blitz”
3.5/5

Dancing, screaming, glitter, guitars and synths are some of the words that could describe the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s from some of their previous albums “Show Your Bones” and “Fever to Tell.” If someone said that front girl Karen O stopped screaming and there were a whole lot less guitars and a lot more vintage synths played by Nick Zimmer, I’m sure their fans wouldn’t be too impressed.

“It’s Blitz”, the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s most recent album, is very much toned down from their previous work, and although that may seem like a bad thing, it really works for them! With their previous album, it was all about being loud, but the emotion wasn’t really there. “It’s Blitz” shows enormous amounts of emotion both in Karen O’s vocals and in the music itself, it seems like they have finally found their true sound. The fourth track on the album “Skeletons” is when you realise how good this album really is. Starting off with pulsing vintage synths for a few bars, then Karen O’s vocals quietly coming in which blows you away when you literally feel the emotion in her voice. Then an epic anthem riff on the synths and marching snares in the background make this song sound huge. It would have been a fantastic opener to the album, but sadly it wasn’t.

Of course, being the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, there are those louder punchier tracks such as track one and two; “Zero” and “Heads Will Roll.” Unfortunately, these are the first two singles to be released, and being track one and two, the rest of the album doesn’t seem to live up to the expectations you have after listening to them, which is a little disappointing.

Although “It’s Blitz” isn’t what most people would probably expect, it is another side to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs that we haven’t seen before. If the tracks were better placed on the album, and the first two tracks weren’t their first two singles, it could have had a better effect. But in saying this, it is a great album and will appeal to more than their regular crowd, which is fantastic for them.

Fingers crossed the rumours are true that they are playing at Splendour in the Grass 09, so we can all see how the live “It’s Blitz” will take off!

- Nina Hlavka