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Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Is Is

Categories : Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.

Rating: 4/5 Released: July 24, 2007 Reviewer: David Coats

Is Is is a five-song EP recorded in the course of one day during the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Fever To Tell tour. These five songs (three of which were previously released on a live DVD) pack a wallop, with the elements that make this band so powerful – pulsating, roughly-mixed drums, crunchy guitar riffs, and the searing vocals of Karen O.

What the record lacks in changes of dynamics it makes up for with raw, late-night-in-a-dark-alley intensity. These songs are aggressive, edgy, and, like the cover art, dark yet shimmering, hitting you over the head while managing to retain their mystery. No-frills opener ‘Rockers To Swallow’ is rhythmically and structurally reminiscent of Show Your Bones’ ‘Gold Lion,’ and O’s vocals pack a bite to go with the menacing guitar riffs.

Though Is Is will leave listeners wanting more, it clearly works best as an EP. Partly this is due to an overall lack of lyrical depth; Karen O sounds surprisingly convincing singing “uh huhs” and “oh ohs” and “ah ah ahs,” but this isn’t her at her most personal – one of the major differences between this record and Show Your Bones. Nonetheless, the initial jab of these songs hits hard enough to make up for it in a condensed package like this.

Though Is Is is also too sonically one-sided to make for a strong LP, there are many highlights, including the relational tension of ‘Kiss Kiss,’ with O’s eerie, a cappella delivery of “maybe my snake is a shark tonight”, and ‘Down Boy’ tiptoes through its verses before exploding into poppy garage rock during the chorus. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as a three-piece, are able to use space to their advantage in ways most other bands can’t, and Is Is showcases how well they do it. It’s not their best work, but fans won’t be disappointed.