Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! (2009)

Karen O makes me want to lock the door to my room and put on a dress with sequins, high heels, maybe a cape if I'm feeling extra saucy, grab my favorite hair brush... and lip synch while doing lots of little leg kicks and stomps for extra emphasis. Not that I've ever done anything of the sort. Uh huh. It's Blitz! is a pretty good YYY's album. But in my opinion, they've all only been pretty good since their first one, Fever to Tell, a real doozy of an album. It's Blitz! has some really good moments. And some really boring ones. AKA all the ballads, with the borderline exception of "Runaway". That one is ok. It builds and builds but never has the breakout moment that the whole song seems to be leading up to, but its the best of the bunch. The rest of the slow ones are skippers for me, I feel like she keeps going for another "Maps" moment. In "Hysteric" Karen O has the audacity to use her god given rocker talents to croon corny crappy lyrics like "Flow sweetly/Hang Heavy/You suddenly complete me". Really? Is she taking herself seriously singing a song that uses a phrase I'll now always associate with Austin Powers? Honestly. Karen O can't pull off corny. She's at her best when she just rocks out, like in "Heads Will Roll". Yes. It's a Lays kindof song, you can't just listen to it once. I spy an indie dance floor anthem! Fist pumps! The Yeah Yeah Yeah's have gone a little more electro, which isn't exactly original, but it works for them. "Zero" has a nice little fade and echo build, and when it peaks, it peaks hard and I can't help but dance. I'm doing one right now. You're welcome world! The good songs on It's Blitz! are really on point, the bad ones are cringe-worthy. But either way, its in steady rotation for now. Also, thumbs up for the use of an exclamation point in the album title.

Favorites: "Dragon Queen", "Dull Life", "Heads Will Roll", and "Zero".