Some initial impressions on the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs joint. I really, really like Karen O's voice, and I can't even tell you why. It really is the weirdest thing. I didn't come up in the church, but like a lot of black folks, my ideal is Aretha--in other words when I say I like someone's voice, I'm usually saying I think they can blow. I don't think Karen O "can blow." And I don't much care. She makes me feel like singing. I don't know what else to say about that. Besides, we live in an age of oversinging--too many motherfuckers doing the technical Aretha thing, but without any real passion.
More on the album itself--I think I must be the only person who's liked each one of the YYY albums better than the last. I know Show Your Bones had its critics. I think It's Blitz may be my favorite--but I should give it more time. "Dragon Queen," "Soft Shock," "Hysteric" and "Little Shadow" are just great.
I think my opinions are shaped by basically missing any music created by white people during the mid to late 80s. Kids like me would have been dismissed as "acting white" for listening to a ban like the Yeah Yeahs Yeahs. OK, that's dishonest--I would have been the one doing the dismissing. What can I say? I was young and stupid, and thought the Bomb Squad and Marle Marl created the world. To get a listen from me, you had to run game--think George Michael who half my hood thought was black. We couldn't get cable in the city, and so we missed a lot of videos. (Hell, even Madonna got cut off, post "Get Into The Goove.")
Kenyatta, who did listen to a lot of white 80s acts, was saying how much of the stuff I'm digging today is derived from her childhood. I can vaguely hear that. But not really. The YYYs offer a shot at redemption, a chance at forgiveness for that imaginary black kid who I mocked as white because he dug Flock Of Seagulls. Forgive me Derwin. Everyone else, cop It's Blitz. Derwin already has it.
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David Bowie meets the Pretenders?
YES! And it's the awesome sauce.
always superfly-ass korean-polish new jersey punk girl with a fetish for chrissie hyndes and missy eliott and went to oberlin? if that aint black enough for ya,TNC nothing is. karen o, santigold and MIA are the only rock stars right now. appropriately enough in the michelle obama era.
It's in a slightly different vein of "white" music and somewhat tangential here, but there was a documentary filmed a little while back called Afropunk. I've only seen snippets, but it seemed interesting. The title says it all: the history of black people into punk rock.
I was thinking more like Bono's kid sister.
I love the YYYs. I have ever since they came out. I also loved "White" music growing up. New Wave was my 1st music love b4 Hip Hop became my musical wife. I guess I kept my love of "White" music to myself growing up, not on purpose mind you but I knew no one else around me liked it so I didn't talk to anyone about it.
I just love music, simple as that.
The lead singer of the YYY's seems to have some vocal qualities that are similar to the lead singer of TV on the Radio, so maybe that's part of why you like them.
Really? The production seems really similar, and if memory serves me, that isn't a mistake. There's a guy in TVOTR who works with the YYYs too. But vocally, they sound like they're from different worlds. Plus I think TVOTR has two guys singing lead on different songs. But neither of them remind me of Karen O.
This is the guy you're thinking of, TNC:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Sitek
Well, maybe the similarities are all in my head. :) They both do this sort of "airy" falsetto thing with their voices that sounds kind of similar to me. I didn't realize that TVOTR had two lead singers, though. I'll have to check out some more You Tube videos, as I hadn't notice this in the past.
Also, I should really thank you for recommending TVOTR so much. I checked them out after one of your posts, and now I totally love them.
Tunde Adebimpe is the one you're thinking of. Kyp Malone has a little more bass in his voice--he's singing leadon "Lover's Day" and "Crying," I believe.
I agree that Kyp Malone has a deeper voice, but he can also rock that falsetto like a motherf**ker.
I think a lot of the appeal of Karen O's vocals for me is the way she uses her voice as part of the rhythm section as much as it part of the melody. I also enjoy just how much they've changed it up from album to album. I think Fever to Tell is still my favorite from front to back, but Cheated Hearts is their best track in my opinion.
I think that's a great way to put it, regarding her ability to use her voice as part of the rhythm. She's probably learned to do it because they don't have a bassist. Or maybe the fact that she can do it is why they don't need a bassist. I've never been able to put my finger on it, but I think you just described it perfectly. I agree that Fever to Tell is their best, but the Turn Into is my favorite song of theirs...
I agree that each YYY album has been better than the last. Karen O's appeal to me is in her honesty and willingness to lay it all out in a lyric. There's a serious Chrissy Hynde vibe as someone above noted and she somehow imparts a total belief in what she sings in every song. It's a nice antidote to bands like the Strokes, where you get a sense they don't give a shit.
TNC,
How did you get introduced to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs? I'm curious---as a member of a basketball team that had 6 white kids and 6 black kids, there was always a battle taking place for warm-up music. If only the Grey Album or Jaydiohead had come out a little later, right?
*earlier. I should have played later haha
What are The Strokes up to these days? And no love for "Way Out?" I love that song. "Turn Into" is awesome too. Also the bonus joint at the end of Fever To Tell:
Beautiful.
Not sure about the rest of The Strokes, but Fabrizio Moretti joined up with Binki Shapiro and Rodrigo Amarante from Los Hermandos to do a side project called Little Joy: http://www.myspace.com/littlejoymusic.
Saw them in Amsterdam a few weeks ago, in a tiny venue (about 250 people?). Top night. Sweet, festive and effortless: sounds like summertime. Highly recommended.
In other news, Fabrizio Moretti is mindbendingly hot.
Have you seen them live, TNC? It may sound a bit cliche, but she just comes off incredibly powerful. And incredibly sexual, but that might just have more to do with the way I look at her...
Haven't. Really want to. I'm dying to see them and TVOTR together. And Dan, I got introduced to the YYYs in my 20s, when I was still writing about music, professionally. It became clear that I couldn't be a serious critic, or a serious person for that matter, and maintain my "blacks only" policy.
Yeah, I got to see them both the same weekend in Chicago. Awesome. Also got to see another NYC band, LCD Soundsystem that weekend. They are very, very different than those other two bands, but they are one of my favorite bands right now.
"Derwin already has it."
One of my friends growing up was a black kid who played guitar and was into Def Leppard. His name was Delwin. You mentioning this Derwin just reminded me of him. One time Delwin and I went to visit a friend of mine, whose mother happened to be British. We waited at the door while she called out to her son in her British accent, "David and Darwin are here".
"David Bowie meets the Pretenders?"
The singer does sound like Chrissie Hynde a little.
I don't have much love for the Strokes these days, sorry. I like hearing them, but not listening to them, if you know what I mean. Maybe it's too many years in Brooklyn, but their above-it-all-looking-down-on-you attitude feels old news and fake and lazy to me.
anyway, it's nothing like the YYYs, where I think about their music often when not listening to it. "Modern Romance" might have been the track to do it for me, I just really liked the phrasing of "fo get strong" and "there is no/this is no/modern romance"
Nah Nah Nah, That sounds like Kate Bush. You gotta go back further into "Whiteness"
Always love the YYYs, though I thought Fever to Tell was vastly superior to Show Your Bones. This album seems more electro-pop-ish. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but what I loved about the YYYs debut is how the 3 piece band could just hold it down.
I love the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but I definitely liked their older albums better. I've always been way more punk rock than new wave. Still love it though. I think if almost any other band made this song I wouldn't have liked it nearly as much. There is something magnetic about Karen O.
Hell, I even love the song she made for that Adidas commercial in '04. It's haunting and I still listen to it.
I think she's proof that Soul>Power. Truly feeling yourself and the music your making means more than all the technical talent in the world.
As for the strokes, they're problem is that they never really improved. They still make good albums (I find them the perfect music for riding on the train home after a night album) with at least 2 truly great songs, but they never achieved the greatness that their first album portended. A debut album that is that solid and has those 2 or 3 songs that are truly great makes you think great things are coming. Except each subsequent album has been at the same level. They move forward musically but the strength of the albums is stagnant.
I worry about the Arctic Monkeys. That first album was about as good as a debut album can be. Just gangbusters start to finish. They didn't have the smartest songs and they weren't the most talented kids on the block, but there was something special in every last one of those songs. They're second album was good and it wasn't a step backwards musically, but it was a step backwards in terms of soul. None of those songs had that special thing where you found yourself singing them to yourself walking down the street hours after you last heard it or maybe even days. The first album had that. So for me - i want to see them materialize into something truly special, but i'm not sure that can happen. I mean, it seems like they caught lightening in a bottle, but given their youth, who knows what will happen in time.
I hear you about the Arctic Monkeys. They tried to capture this 60s surf sound mixed with "whatever people say I am..." it worked, but to an extent it's not who they really are and I wonder if they defined themselves to narrowly. I still love Favourite Worst Nightmare--I listened to the first 5 tracks nearly incessantly for 2 weeks. But it didn't have the same story telling vibe. We'll see though.
Also, and maybe this makes me crazy, I don't know, but when I was first introduced to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs by "Maps" (I know, that makes me uncool) I didn't want to hear anything else from them, and essentially didn't for 6 months after. I thought the song was perfect and they could never reach that again. I'd never heard anything like it, and I was terrified they'd disappoint me. Thankfully, I summoned the courage to go on :)
I was introduced to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs by "Pin", I fell in love and never looked back.
Fun fact: the director of the "Pin" video is plays the sister's fiance in "Rachel Getting Married."
I actually think the Is Is EP is the best thing the Yeah Yeah Yeah's have done, but it doesn't get much love.
While I'm not a big fan of the YYY, I have to admit that live they really manage to bring the fire power. I remember seeing them a few years ago at the Fillmore in SF (along with JSBX and Liars) and really being impressed with Karen O's vocals. Maybe I'm wrong here but I'm definetely getting a Siouxsie Sioux vibe off of her.
I was pretty much ostricised as a teen. At home my parents would deride my choice of music (It's just a phase)and at school the other black kids would make fun of me for rocking the Jethro Tull on some days and Wall Of Voodoo the next. It's cool though. I run into old classmates every once in a while who will confess that secretly they were blasting The Smiths or Cocteau Twins when no one was looking.
Any thoughts on Dirty Projectors?
Oh yeah, "Maps" is an awesome song. Overplayed yet still awesome.
Never been a fan of recorded YYY's... though I can see how they would be pretty awesome live.
TNC since you like this 80's inspired music and you are clearly a huge nerd you should check out the Metronomy video for their song Radio Ladio. It is top notch in both departments.
Siouxsie & the Banshees. Sure, not as scream-y, but her voice and look is fairly close.
You really need to check out N.A.S.A. they have a track with Karen O and the ODB on the same track, David Byrne and Chuck D on the same track. Its pretty f**king awesome.
Digging it, especially since they shot it in my old home town of SF. Looks like most of it was shot in North Beach. Good stuff.
Karen O just has to be my favorite lead singer out there right now. She has this cool combo of art school geek and "fuck off" punk that is just too cool. Is Is is the only EP I've ever bothered paying money for.
It's also great to see a biracial Asian woman born and partially raised abroad make it in music today in the US.
I get your attraction. However, may I suggest Johnette Napolitano, Pound for pound Johnette makes Karen O sound anemic. Yeah, I know. One man's ceiling... But you want to hear someone who can blow, check her out...either solo or with Concrete Blonde. Girl can blow.
TNC,
What is you opinion on PJ Harvey?
I never really got into YYYs because when Maps came out, I thought it was a good song but I couldn't get past the fact that Karen O sounded like a somewhat inferior Siouxsie to my ears. But now that they have a deeper catalog to dig into, I think I should give them another try.
I liked Show Your Bones more than the previous stuff too. Haven't checked out the new one yet, but it's on my list!
Love you for posting this bro. ("bro"!) I'm a groupie wannabe for her because she is such a rock star. You have to bring SOUL, see. You're right, she makes me want to sing, too. You dig it because it's rock and roll; if you grew up in this country, it enters your bloodstream.
I think you might see this music as having 80's roots, because of the synth and the drumming style, but the vibe is really different. The above commenters' references to Souixsie and PJ Harvey are insightful.