The Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell

March 26, 2003

Continuing on with more reviews of albums from superhyped bands that I obtained through questionable means comes my take on The Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Fever To Tell. After releasing a stunning debut EP last year and drinking their way through a major label bidding war, The YYYs are finally going to officially debut their first full length on Interscope.

The major label business isn’t really relevant though, as Fever to Tell is a lo-fi production and feels as dirty and raw as any indie release. I’m actually not even sure why I brought it up now, other than I’m pretty much typing as fast as I can and hoping to make sense so I can sleep at decent hour tonight. A lot of the YYYs hype is based around their nutty stage show, where lead singer Karen O struts and flaunts and in general gets crazy and wild and rock and roll. Of course, none of this is on the record. I mean, you can hear Karen O and she sure sounds wild, but you don’t get to see her pour beer on herself or anything.

Like many bands now, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are drums/guitar/vocal, trying to stretch that out as far and fast as they can. Nick Zinner’s guitar style sounds like a fuzzed up blues/slide player, something like a punchier version of PJ Harvey’s records. Brian Chase roams free on drums, and Fever To Tell exploits his sound well. Without a bass, you can hear the thumps and wacks fill the room, and the record sounds about very close to a live performance. Karen O’s vocals sound downright animalistic, with all her melody lines interspersed with yelps and pants.

I’d actually heard many of the tracks on Fever To Tell before, as they’d premiered them on various radio stations last year. The strongest of those tracks are all here, and form the best parts of the album. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have a stripped, almost improvised song style, which are both the album’s strengths and weaknesses. When they work, the songs feel like they’ve captured lightning in a bottle. Songs like “Pin,” “Rich,” and “Date With A Night” feel wild and free and just on the verge of breaking down. Even the more restrained tracks like “Maps” and “Y-Control” have a sense of drama and live-wire spontaneity that you’re more accustomed to seeing in live performances than on record. When things don’t click, like on the swaggering “Man” or the closing Velvetish dirge of “Modern Romance,” the songs feel aimless and repetitive, a set of hooks and ideas still in search of a proper song.

With any band that gets this kind of publicity, it becomes difficult to separate the music from the press releases. The truth always lies somewhere inbetween. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are better than the choruses that yell “overrated” would have you believe, but they’re also lacking in just enough to justify that criticism. As it stands, if this was my first exposure to them, I’d be impressed and eagerly awaiting another album, where they might take that next step and live up to the accolades.

Posted in From Blown Speakers