Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! (2009)

“Get your leather on”. Yeah Yeah Yeahs are playful chameleons. Its Blitz! is frankly commercial. Not necessarily in a bad way, but in a yeah-this-is-a-fun-listen-if-only-for-half-an-hour-before-I-go-and-make-myself-some-noodles kind of way.

“Zero” is fashionable. “Soft Shock” hops delightfully “in your room, in my room, in your room, in my room”. It’s coloured sweetly and is not without its warm charm. “Skeletons” is a Coldplay anthem with womanly vocals, lyrics about the “sky” and a love which Karen O in pleading with, “love, don’t cry”. It’s radio-ready or perhaps could close an episode of Grey’s Anatomy; Katherine Heigl comes to terms with a man’s solemn departure (shot in slow motion naturally).

“Dull Life” opens awkwardly, with Karen’s vocals attempting to align with the guitar riffs. On an album as mediocre as It’s Blitz!, reciting over and over that “it’s a dull life” wasn’t a wise decision. “Shame and Fortune” attempts to be topical, but I call filler. “Dragon Queen”? Filler. Apart from “Hysteric”, which is a cheerful pop ditty, It’s Blitz! is more often It’s Shitz. When did the Yeah Yeah Yeahs become so complacent?

It’s Blitz! is a movie trailer, it’s short and thrilling but it leaves you in anticipation. It never amounts to much more than being a by-the-numbers pop-lectr-unk record. Sorry guys, I think I’ll keep my leather off.

56
(58 - SM)
Combined Rating = 57