Wednesday 29 July 2009

90: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero

2009 is the year that indie went disco. With the NME-touted La Roux, Little Boots, Florence & Her Machine et al. storming to the top of the charts, and off the back of recent success by the likes of Hot Chip, Justice and Calvin Harris, "credible" artists are queueing up to add beats to their guitars.

Of course, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs always had a hint of disco aesthetic about them, courtesy of Karen O's outlandish wardrobe and stylised vocals. But 'It's Blitz', released in the spring of this year, heralded a clear refocusing of direction for NYC's coolest band of this past decade. The whole record is packed with dancefloor fillers, and even the slower tunes like 'Zero' are flexible enough to lend themselves to countless dance remixes.

Video here (embedding has been unhelpfully disabled).

The fluctuating, Rolf Harris-on-a-wobbleboard style of guitar playing allows Karen O's vocals to the fore, and as per usual, she doesn't disappoint. I particularly like the opening gambit ("shake it like a ladder to the sun"). Not sure if it means anything, but it's a great line nevertheless.

3 comments:

  1. I assume this won't be the only appearance from Y3? First EP was great, especially Bang.

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  2. It's my fave track on IB I think.

    Kat

    (testing 123!)

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  3. (much easier to comment now - thx Ben)

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