The YYY’s have sort of a mixed reputation in the indie world at the moment, frequently the butt of jokes in too-hip torch bearers like Vice and Chunklet. As one of the first beneficiaries/victims of the post Strokes/White Stripes cycle of hype and backlash, I get where the venom comes from but I don’t think it’s deserved.

Sure it’s annoying to read article after article about a band who’ve at that point only written five songs. Sure it’s lame to see a fledgling band ride that hype to a degree of mainstream success without a lot of time toiling in the tiny venue trenches. But the bottom line is that they have some really good songs and have shown improvement on every subsequent release. They aren’t overly derivative and in fact write more personally engaging and melodic songs than the No Wave artists to whom they were frequently compared. They were mentioned in the same derisive breath as bands like the Hives, but were consistently more sonically challenging and forward thinking than that. Hell, even that vocal Karen O provided for the Adidas commercial was pretty and uniquely tailored to the ad’s visuals, rather than the band just accepting a check for a pre-recorded track.

The most instructive example of this conundrum comes with the DVD’s inclusion of the YYY’s performance of signature tune “Maps” at the dreaded MTV Movie Awards. Lame, right? Total sell-out. On paper, maybe, but really it’s quite visually interesting. Placed ant level in a heavily art directed grassy knoll, space-suited Karen shines in a wash of soft, almost psychedelic light. As the song builds in intensity a shower of red rose pedals wafts from the ceiling (or the towering flowers above, if one is to suspend disbelief). Culminating in a crushing torrent completely obscuring Ms. O by its climax. As the camera pulls back to show row after row of painstakingly cast Road Rules look a likes in the auditorium’s audience, the juxtaposition of something odd and well thought out with the run-of-the-mill MTV aesthetic template is jarring. Don’t these shows usually rock out to Sum-41? I have a hard time getting mad about the substitution.

The centerpiece of the DVD is the Fillmore show. The attribute that got the YYY’s any notice in the first place was their energetic live shows, for fans that haven’t caught the band in their home town won’t be disappointed. With two set-lists to draw from, practically any song one might want to hear is covered

Guitarist Nick Zinner and drummer Brian Chase lay down a tight minimal backdrop for Karen’s theatrics. Theatrics is the right word, as the girl lives up to her reputation as a whirling dervish on stage. Admittedly, the antics can take away from the quality of the vocal performance at times, and pouring a bag of chips over your head isn’t exactly Iggy Pop caliber reckless abandon, but you have to give her enthusiasm points.

With the band taking its sweet ass time recording a follow up to 2003’s Fever to Tell the inclusion of five new songs in the disc’s set list stand out as its most exciting aspect. If these tracks had been leaked to the internet in MP3 form I’m sure the blog discussion would have been swift and furious. Since posting or illegally downloading a visual clip is less commonplace, they’ve managed to escape close scrutiny. Until now.

Two of the tracks, “10 x 10” and “Rockers to Swallow,” are fairly harmless rave-ups that fall a little too comfortably within the band’s established sound to be ecstatic about. The remaining three are much better.

First off is “Down Boy,” beginning with a sustained synth note accompanied by a light, shuffling drumbeat. Karen joins in shortly with a restrained and gentle vocal line. Her yelps and screams may get more ink, but in my view her strength as a vocalist lies in her ability to create a memorable melody, rather than shred at top volume. Zinner is the real star of the track, however, alternating a lilting melody on the keys with a raucous guitar part to good effect.

“Cheated Hearts” starts with an over-long intro that seems to exist only for Karen to mine dramatic tension from slowly reeling the mic cord in from the other side of the stage. When the song finally starts in earnest it’s worth the wait. Again, she gives a nuanced delicate vocal, and Zinner backs her up with a pretty, chiming guitar. Rather than debauched, it sounds downright sunny.

Karen then launches into the oh-so knowing chorus:

“Sometimes I think that I’m bigger than the sound/ I think that I’m Bigger than the sound.”

Zinner begs to differ, and lets loose with huge, crunchy guitar riff. Point proven, the melody rises again euphorically. Sounds like a possible single.

The best of all the new songs is “Sealings,” which is included in the bonus songs section. Marked by a strong up-tempo Chase drumbeat, Karen’s vocal here is more unhinged and impassioned than in the two aforementioned numbers, but in sort of a clipped fashion. To the song’s favor she manages this without veering all the way into Screech Town histrionics. Zinner lets loose maybe the catchiest guitar part he’s ever written - epic, jagged, gloriously fuzzed out. KO barks odd lyrics about “her baby” and “the crash” and “a glove” as NZ creates a one man maelstrom beside her. The intensity builds to a mid song climax with “I Want Out!” screamed repeatedly, and then falls back into the staccato delivery of the songs first part. Guitar parts and vocal lines interchange and repeat. It sounds bigger and looser than anything they’ve done to this point, and they pull it off really well.

The band is currently putting the finishing touches on their second LP and the comments made to the press about it’s progress have been sort of goofy. Karen spouts off about bringing in a tabla, and making everything acoustic or whatever, and its easy to lose heart and gear up for a big critical comeuppance. But this DVD and these new songs especially give me some courage in my convictions.

Sound for the disc is credited to Zinner himself, and producer Alan Moulder. With the old Eno associate and ex- My Bloody Valentine producer behind the boards for the album as well, some of this lush guitar grandeur’s got to make it to the finished album. I for one am rooting for the kids to pull it off.

-Posted on behalf of Jeff Klingman.

See also - The Rock DVD: Variations on a Theme – Type #1: DVD as incentive to buy

//Yeah Yeah Yeahs site
//YYY - Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow – Buy
//YYY - Fever To Tell - Buy

Tags: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, DVD, Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow, Karen O, Lance Bangs,