A sense of genuine romanticism reverberates throughout the entire album, from the throbbing dance dreams of "Soft Shock" to the epic, strobe phasing beauty of the tip-toeing "Skeletons". The album’s got heart, real, colorful, bleeding, stomping heart, and it’s laid out in soaring fashion. The band recorded It’s Blitz! with two producers: TV On The Radio’s David Sitek, who did production work on the last two albums, and Nick Launay, who co-produced the 2007 Is Is EP along with the band. The vintage synths come on strong on the album, finding Nick Zinner utilizing an array of guitar effects and various throwback synth instruments to develop a redrawn sound that certainly bears the YYY imprint, most comparably as a more developed Show Your Bones on the club scene.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who used to think the band have always sounded best when filtered through the New York punk-fuzz garage grit that was on their early EPs. Those conceptual elements, however magnetic and propelling they may have been for their career at the onset, are thrown out the window on It’s Blitz! without so much as a cursory rearviewmirror glance. There’s still a lot of guitar on the album, but this time its got heavy backups in synth-heavy atmospherics- definitely indicative of the sense of evolution throughout, translated through what’s more a soundtrack to electro-nightlife than a batch of concert anthems.
Tracks like album opener "Zero" or the creepily sensual "Dragon Queen" could find a cozy home between updated versions of Blondie and the Pet Shop Boys. "Zero"’s a cocaine disco anthem for modern times, a pulsing mirrorball party that starts off like a red-pill digital assault, an immediately magnetic pulse in sixteenths that threatens to overwhelm the senses before Karen O’s gentle buoyancy sets in and leads the way. The theme stays strong through "Heads Will Roll," a speedy satellite party in true glitter fashion, with a similarly ecstatic breakdown/outro to its predecessor. The hyper-reverberating electro-strings and looping beat build a dancefloor base for a vocal performance that little poplets like Lady GaGa could learn some things from; Karen’s passion is unrivaled, and songs like Heads Will Roll are solid proof that she’s got the chops to outshine the silly dance queens soaking up the charts these days.
"Soft Shock" slows the party down, a whirling instrumental track under the subtle peaks and valleys of Karen O’s pendular melody (listen for her canary-esque ooooohh’s near the end), which leads into the breathtakingly gorgeous and delicate "Skeletons". By design, it’s not a far cry from the delicate beauty of "Maps," but the chorus is much more fragile- and a hell of a lot less annoying. Buoyed by Zinner’s effects work and a rising march-like snare beat, the song becomes a soaring movement, Karen’s soft-vocal delivery serving as the voice of calm in an epically percussive, dropping each syllable like a slowly leaking faucet. As the soundscape builds around her, her gentle lullaby provides a light through the fog.
The guitars return to recognizable form for the radio-ready "Dull Life," as well as "Shame And Fortune," a grinding bass fuzz monster that wakes and settles before rising up again with a guitar lead that’s not exactly groundbreaking, but serves the song perfectly.
More traditional song structure returns as well with the epically majestic "Hysteric," the melody and percussion giving the track an evolved "Maps" essence, but the repeated line You suddenly complete me… is achingly beautiful in a very primal nerve-stroking kind of way, a moment-of-clarity love letter, like a grown-up fairy tale. Moments like Brian Chase’s little fills around the 1:50 mark under Karen’s gorgeous The cinders, they splinter are what makes this album such a fantastic listen- and why good speakers or headphones would do the listener a world of good to utilize while doing so. The Devil’s in the details, and they love it that way. Staccato horns help build the song’s final act, a royal celebration that vaporizes suddenly, ending with a whistle and gentle feedback.
The heavenly "Little Shadow" closes the album with an apparent inspirational mix of Lamb, Goldfrapp and Sigur Rós. Karen’s reflective Little shadow / Into the night / Will you follow me? weaves gently through the organ’s rising, shimmering wall of sound and the minimalist perimeter set by the percussion. We’re sent out with a bittersweet mix of gentle yearning and muted sorrow, but there’s a strong undercurrent of victory as well- possibly because The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have outdone themselves here. If there’s any true harmony in the universe, It’s Blitz! will be remembered as the pinnacle of the band’s artistic achievement thus far.
CraveOnline Rating: 10 out of 10
