It’s a visceral, if cartoony, image, and one used strikingly on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs sophomore full-length. It’s an image that presumably serves as a metaphor for honesty and emotional transparency.
It seems the band- singer Karen O, drummer Brian Chase, and guitarist Nick Zinner- have taken their time on recording the follow-up to 2003’s Fever To Tell. In the aftermath of Fever To Tell’s unforgettable smash hit “Maps,” listeners’ collective attention seemed to shift away from the neo post punk and garage rock movements and onto the dance rock movement propelled by the Killers. Now it seems like the dance rock fad is fading out, and we’re seeing the return of garage rock, what with the recent Strokes album and now the YYY’s Show Your Bones. Or, as Darth Vader once said, “The circle is now complete.” No bull Sith.
However, Show Your Bones is no Fever To Tell: Championship Edition. It’s less of an update, and more of a full-fledged sequel. To go with the Street Fighter analogy, Show Your Bones is to Fever To Tell as Street Fighter III: Third Strike is to the original Street Fighter II. Which is to say, Show Your Bones’ roots are still completely evident, yet the modifications have made it a completely different experience from its predecessor.
About a year ago, there was a clever Adidas commercial in which a young man got out of bed and ran around. The catch was that the world would be revealed in accordance to the whims of his shoes. For completeness sake, you can see the video here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=OQIWQvyxs-0&search=adidas
I mention this commercial not because I work for the shoe company, but because the haunting song that plays in the commercial is actually a collaboration between Karen O and Squeak E. Clean, who is also the producer of Show Your Bones. Tellingly, much of Show Your Bones features this type of understated, subtle production and melodic approach to music. Whereas Fever To Tell would be likely to show off Karen O’s harpy, eclectic vocal tics amid a wash of Sonic Youth-ish feedback guitar, Show Your Bones brandishes a more controlled attack, one that uses such distinctive sounds a bit more sparingly but sensibly.
The lead single and opening track, “Gold Lion,” is a fine example of the new aesthetic. Clean-sounding and with some clear acoustic guitars, it takes a while before the raunchy guitar effects kick in. And Karen O’s vocal delivery has improved; her voice sounds more confident than ever. “Phenomena” sounds like a more predictable evolution of a Fever To Tell song, with its heavy plodding and screeching guitar attacks. So the YYYs don’t have a bassist; it’s hard to tell the difference sometimes. “Way Out” is the band at their best: persistent drumming, passionate vocals, and a driving energy.
So too, the melodies and hooks in Show Your Bones are more immediately accessible than many of the songs from Fever To Tell. “Honeybear” could almost be a dance rock song, if only it were sprinkled with synths and keys. As it is, it’s a punky rebellion anthem.
And then, there is the one-two punch of “Cheated Hearts” and “Dudley.” The two songs signify a change in the album’s tone and serve to raise the ante. It’s possible that either, or even both, of these songs could become the new “Maps.” Whereas “Maps” is a love song of the highest devotion, “Cheated Hearts” conveys the opposite emotion with characteristically emotive, if fractured, lyrics: “Take these rings and store them safe away / I\'ll wear them on another rainy day.” It’s one of the most affecting songs on the album and is exactly the superb middle track every solid album desperately requires.
Many of theYYYs’ best lyrics come in terse, fragmented bursts of honesty and obscurity. Take the following from “Dudley”: “Fast slow living is holding me back / Wishing my baby never told me that / Can\'t even cope to make it last / Then it passed me by.” This melancholy song has a simple dignity. Even the melody somehow recalls that old nursery rhyme, the one that starts with “Hush little baby, don’t say a word. Papa’s gonna buy you a mockingbird.” The effect is almost dizzying. “Dudley” is quite possibly the finest neo post punk lullaby in existence.
Show Your Bones isn’t just a superb sophomore album. It’s a personal statement reminding us just why the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, just a few short years ago, were the focus of so much hype. It’s honest and emotional in a way that few “art rock” bands can claim. By the time you get to the album’s monumental finale, the climactic “Turn Into,” you’ll want to jump back in, get zapped by the electricity again, and show your bones right along with the band.
"Show Your Bones" is on sale March 28, 2006 from Interscope.
