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I have regained some hope for Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Some. After what was, in my eyes a lackluster release with Show Your Bones I didn’t expect too much from the band. I thought they had lost what they had on Fever to Tell and their self-titled debut. While all of them are extremely talented musicians, Show Your Bones felt plotted out and had none of the urgency and excitement that their earlier releases had.

Karen O. and the boys return with an EP of songs that were written while on the road in support of Fever to Tell, performed live but never fully recorded in the studio. These five tracks were laid down in one session in a New York recording studio, maybe the short time frame is what gives them the life that they have. The EP is a nice blend of the rawness of Fever and the polish of Bones.

Throughout the album Zinner masterfully manipulates his guitar while Karen O. hit’s all ranges of vocal styles from guttural growls and grunts to the soft and pleasant. “Rockers to Swallow” is an in your face album opener that leads into the hypnotically chaotic “Down Boy”. From here the songs “Kiss Kiss” and “ISIS” lead into a structure and sound that is a little more reminiscent of Show Your Bones. The album closes with the great “10 x 10”.

Is Is gives a glimmer of hope that Yeah Yeah Yeahs have returned to a darker, more raw and powerful sound. With these songs being several years old it can’t be certain that this is the direction that they will be taking on their next full length, but we can hope.

Reviewed by: Tom Gilbert

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