Yeah Yeah Yeah's
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs is an American indie rock band that formed in New York City in 2000. Since its inception, the band has comprised vocalist and pianist Karen O, guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner and drummer Brian Chase, who are complemented in live performances by second guitarist David Pajo, who joined as a touring member in 2009 and replaced Imaad Wasif who had previously held this role.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
According to an interview that aired during the ABC network's Live from Central Park SummerStage series, the band's name was taken from modern New York City vernacular. The band has recorded three studio albums; the first, Fever to Tell, was released in 2003. The second, Show Your Bones, was released in 2006 and was named the second best album of the year by NME. Their third studio album, It's Blitz!, was released on March 31, 2009 in the USA and on April 6, 2009 in the rest of the world.
Karen O and Brian Chase first met as students at Oberlin College in Ohio in the late '90s, where Chase was a jazz student at the conservatory. Karen then transferred to New York University, and while in New York met Zinner in a local bar, where they formed an "instant connection". During this time they also shared a loft in Manhattan with future members of the band Metric.[citation needed] The two formed an acoustic duo called "Unitard", but they went electric after being inspired by Ohio's avant-punk scene. After the drummer they recruited initially bowed out, Chase joined the line-up and decided to form a punk band similar to the "trashy, punky, grimy" art student groups that Karen had left behind in Ohio. The band wrote a slew of songs at their first rehearsal and soon wound up supporting the Strokes and the White Stripes, earning a significant buzz for their arty and garage punk scene. In late 2001, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs released their self-titled debut EP, which they recorded with Boss Hog's Jerry Teel, on their own Shifty label. Early the next year the band stepped into the international spotlight, appearing at South by Southwest, touring the U.S. with Girls Against Boys and Europe with Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and headlining their own U.K. tour. Wichita Recordings distributed the group's EP in the U.K. and Touch and Go reissued it in the States.
Their second album, Show Your Bones, was released on March 27–28, 2006. The album's producer, Sam Spiegel – who had previously collaborated with Karen O on the song "Hello Tomorrow" for an Adidas commercial directed by Sam's brother Jonze – told MTV News that it was a concept album about Karen's cat, and would be titled Coco Beware. However, MTV was forced to retract the story, noting that Spiegel had failed to mention that he was joking. Karen O told online zine Drowned in Sound, "Show Your Bones is what happens when you put your finger in a light socket," crediting "9 year old antigenius wonder-kid Drake Barrett for the insight." The first single from the album, "Gold Lion", was released on March 20, 2006, reaching 18 in the Official UK Singles Chart. It has been noted by Leah Greenblatt that "Gold Lion" sounds startlingly similar to "No New Tale To Tell" from 1980s alternative band Love and Rockets. The band toured throughout Europe and the United States during much of 2006, and also helped to curate an edition of the British All Tomorrow's Parties festival. In December 2006, the album was named the second best album of the year by NME magazine, as well as "Cheated Hearts" being voted the 10th best song. Rolling Stone magazine named it the 44th best album of 2006, while Spin magazine ranked it number 31 on their 40 best albums of 2006.
The next album by the band was released in March 2009 and is called It's Blitz!. The band says the album sounds different from their previous ones but "still [sounds] like Yeah Yeah Yeahs". The album was originally set to be released April 13, but following the leak to the Internet on February 22 the band's label, Interscope, pulled the release date closer to reduce the impact of the online leak. The album was named as the second best of 2009 by Spin Magazine and third best of 2009 by NME along with "Zero" from the album listed as the best track of the year by both.
Official Website: www.yeahyeahyeahs.com
