Dan, Karen O, Brian Chase and Nick Zinner are so spunky. They're good enough to become the new rumored darlings on the critics list, chasing the strings and stocks of the White Stripes and such, while bad enough to earn the glamour of Tipper's Parental Advisory. This is the band you've been hearing about. And as one famed local record store owner says, "the album's almost good enough to live up to all the hype." \nIt's in the guitars. With a three-piece ditching all bass-lined dreams (yeah, they're in that trend too) Zinner fills out the sound almost completely solo. Sure, Karen O's screaming sexy in the foreground, and Chase can pound his snare beat securely into your head, but Zinner pulls so many noises out of his electric you'd think there's a bass player AND a keyboardist in the band (he also helped out with production). \nHailing from New York's underground/punk scene, the trio brings the pumped-up blues of the Stripes into some outer territory, which I bet makes Jack and Meg jealous. But not that much. For no matter how cool the sound is, there's something (perhaps the more annoying of O's yelps) that hits the back of your ears saying, "It's good but not lasting."\nKaren O's probably making most of the guys drool, but she's not got much to say. "Boy you're just a stupid bitch and girl you're just a no good dick" ("Black Tongue") is humorous, but who cares. You wouldn't put on a Yeah Yeah Yeahs' album for enlightenment anyway, but a bit more substance would be all the band would need to push it above the crowded gaggle of bands they can be grouped with nowadays. But everyone needs to let go sometimes and it's still great when O sings along with the guitar. \nZinner is the starsucker of the band. He clunks, plunks, zings, twinkles, meedly-mees and punches with the best of his kind. Apparently, he loops live to cover all the layers he has on the record. He knows the loudness of simplicity though too, with some unlayered intros and endings reminding you that hey, Zinner is cool with volume 10 and multi-tracking, but he knows control. Being able to demonstrate both makes the man into a player instead of an ego-strummer. Karen O struts her softer side as well in a few tracks, giving way to the illusion that she must only be a screamer. She can sing too. Even Chase tones it down with bells for the ending.\nThe Yeah Yeah Yeahs have enough destruction to be pleasantly distracting and enough different guitar tones to make even the most cynical woman-in-rock critics flush with a bit of happiness.
-reviewed by Jessica Halverson \n-rating B+
