Yeah, Yeah It’s Good…Yeah

“It’s Blitz!,” released in late March of 2009, is the third major album from the punk-infused New York City rock band, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Shortly after the release, the band appeared on several shows including “Saturday Night Live” and the “Late Show with David Letterman” performing their first single “Zero.” The song has also been promoted on a “Rhapsody” commercial and featured on the CW’s teen drama “Gossip Girl.”

The group initially rose to fame after the release of their debut album “Fever to Tell” launched the band onto the music industry’s radar in 2003.

“It’s Blitz!” offers a myriad of sounds and is quite different from the predominantly fast paced, upbeat nature of their first album and the subdued, mellow mood of their second album, “Show Your Bones,” released in 2006.

Lead singer Karen O’s vocals show great variety through out the album.

On the songs “Skeletons” and “Runaway,” her voice appears faint and fragile, revealing her versatile vocal ability. Although the lyrics are sung softly, they still have the ability to captivate and seduce listeners.

An interesting aspect of the band’s album is the effectiveness of combining heavier vocals with softer vocals in the song “Dull Life.” The slow beginning might initially fool listeners into thinking that the band has once again composed another soft song, but as it progresses, fans will be surprised and pleased when they are reintroduced to the edgy, sassy sound they’ve grown to love.

Although the album has an innovative sound, aspects of a number of songs are quite familiar. The music in the songs “Heads Will Roll” and “Dragon Queen” is reminiscent of ’80s workout music. When listening to both songs, one can almost imagine a group of people in multicolored leotards exercising or dancing to the music.

The song “Little Shadow” is definitely the most tranquil on the album. It has the ability to either take you to the zen place you dream about escaping to during a hectic day or put you to sleep, whichever you might prefer. The song is sung simply and calmly and the serene music adds little excitement.

The deluxe version of “It’s Blitz!” contains acoustic versions of the songs: “Soft Shock,” “Skeletons,” “Hysteric” and “Little Shadow.” These renditions bring uniformity to the album whose style is unpredictable from song to song.

Buyers of this album who might be new to the band, may be influenced to gravitate to some of their older albums and EPs; after all the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have continued to maintain a unique sound and have not become another overly hungry band willing to sellout and abandon their sound in hopes of having a hit record.