At the turn of the millennium, a time where rock ‘n’ roll experienced its most electrifying, groundbreaking resurgence since… well… eight years prior, a NYC trio called Yeah Yeah Yeahs burst onto the scene. Comprised of Karen O (frontwoman with a primal shriek that’d scare even Jack White shitless), Nick Zinner (eccentric guitarist with equal parts creativity and effects pedals), and Brian Chase (remarkably jazzy drummer with an ear for grooves), Yeah Yeah Yeahs presented an arty take on, essentially, punk rock. The group’s sonic trajectory — arty garage punk on 2003’s Fever to Tell, melancholic folk punk on 2006’s Show Your Bones, ’80s synth punk on 2009’s It’s Blitz! — has been varied, but their visceral intensity persistent.
Mosquito, their fourth record, shows the group in its most frenetic fashion yet. Where previous YYYs albums were an album-length exploration of, for the most part, one style, Mosquito is an exploratory heap of sounds. From “Sacrilege,” an ultra-sleek soul tune that ends with a full gospel choir (!), to “Slave,” a rollicking ’80s throwback, there’s a level of unpredictability that ultimately strengthens the record.
While It’s Blitz! experimented with the glamorous, ’80s-inflected end of electronic sounds, Mosquito makes use of more modern techniques. Take “These Paths,” a downtempo track that captures Karen O’s assurances for a former lover. The tune features some psychedelic vocal manipulations and electronics that wouldn’t be out of place in contemporary EDM.
With the first half of the record more or less awesome, sadly the choices get a bit questionable later on. “Buried Alive” makes poor use of a Kool Keith appearance by pairing him with some of the album’s most mediocre songwriting, while “Area 52,” the biggest offender, sounds like a shitty Sonic Youth B-side. Fortunately, the record gets back on track with “Despair,” Mosquito‘s peak and one of the group’s most mature outings to date. With Chase’s Bonham-level heaviness on the toms and one of Karen O’s best vocal performances, the track achieves a profoundness paralleling “Maps,” the band’s biggest hit from Fever to Tell.
“Wedding Song,” Mosquito‘s majestic closer, further shows how successful YYYs are in varying their sound. From “Sacrilege” to “Wedding Song,” sonic boundaries are explored and in a select few cases abused, but, regardless, YYYs have made their most interesting record to date.
Mosquito