Album review: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz (3.5/5)

Full disclosure: Other than "Maps," I've never listened to Yeah Yeah Yeahs before. So while I've read that It's Blitz is a return to form after their divisive second album, I cannot attest to it personally.

What I can say, is that It's Blitz is a mostly enjoyable new wave-influenced alternative album that fits in nicely with the current onslaught of indie/punk bands that have been so attuned the mid ‘80s sound. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are more than just a wannabe '80s band though. At their core, they are experimenters, albeit bound my enough convention that they never veer too far into the avant garde.

"Zero" features a danceable drumbeat within layers of synths that form the song's pulsing rhythm and its melody. It's a great upbeat intro. “Heads Will Roll” also has a prominent synth melody, but also includes some guitar. It’s upbeat as well, although not as energetic as “Zero.” “Soft Shock” is mellower, moodier, and slower, but not as slow as “Skeletons,” which goes for an understated, yet epic sound, stripping back the drums to just the occasional dramatic pound.

"Dull Life" opens sparsely with guitar and quiet vocals before a sudden uptake in volume. This song has a darker mood than those precede it and a fairly decent chorus. I suppose because it's more of a pop song, it's one of my favorites so far. "Shame and Fortune" turns up the bass amid highly repetitive guitar riffs and vocals. Both of these songs effectively explore the contrasts between quiet/loud and sparse/layered.

While much of It's Blitz uses synthesizers, "Runaway" starts off with a piano, adding in guitars later. It's a striking melody, perhaps the most beautiful one here. Then its back to the early '80s DJ studio for "Dragon Queen," another cool number of synth melodies and beats.

The band really mellows out for the last two tracks. "Hysteric" is a gentle mix of synth noise, chords and effects that builds up only at the end for a big finish. "Little Shadow" is even mellower with just organ, acoustic guitar and vocals at the beginning, picking up volume but not tempo after a few minutes with some electric guitar and percussion. If you could play a lullaby in a big concert venue, it would sound like this.

At first, I didn’t like this as much as I was hoping to, but I think that was because I was expecting it to be more pop than it is. As such, I’d characterize it more was “indie alternative new wave revival” rather than “indie pop new wave revival.” There's a lot of interesting stuff going on, which translated into a lot of good songs and even a few great ones.

Best: Zero, Dull Life, Runaway, Heads Will Roll, Dragon Queen