The New Classics #44/#51: Fever To Tell, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Title: Fever To Tell
Artist: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Year: 2003
Label: Interscope

[Note: On Acclaimedmusic.com's list, the 44th most acclaimed album of the decade is Sigur Rós' Ágætis Byrjun. That's all fine and wonderful, but that album was actually originally released in Iceland in 1999 before making its way to the U.K. and United States the following year. As such, most critics have grouped it in with the albums of the 2000s, but for this project, I find it ineligible. So, instead, I'm covering Fever To Tell, the 51st most acclaimed album on the list. It's a dandy, too!]

Is punk dead? That's certainly a subject you hear a lot about these days. Some say it died in the 1990s, when Nirvana and Green Day brought it kicking, screaming and pogo-ing into the mainstream. Some say it never made it out of the 1970s (I tend to lean in this direction). Yet others say that it remains alive and well, albeit in a radically different form than the Sex Pistols ever imagined (assuming they imagined these things at all...which they probably didn't). It all depends on how you define "punk." Is it the music of rebellion? Is it an attitude? A certain energy? It a particular political persuasion? All these definitions have been argued over the years, but it all seems to boil back down to that certain reckless spirit, that urge to spit in the face of authority and run around like crazy. I'm not sure I'm ready to call Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Fever To Tell a great punk album, but one thing is for certain: you're going to be hard pressed to find an album with more reckless spirit than this fiery masterpiece.

Appreciating Yeah Yeah Yeahs' music has to start with Karen O. Spastic, seductive and sensitive, she's one of the most charismatic women in alternative rock history. When Fever To Tell was first released, she was an absolute revolution, bubbling over with personality and unstoppable sexiness. The fact that half of the album seems to consist of her orgasmic shrieks and moans certainly helped matters as well. Karen O certain knows how to abuse vocal ticks like nobody else, but she's also a very powerful and versatile singer, leaping from soulful crooning to throat-shredding exultation at a moment's notice. On songs like "Date With The Night," "Rich" and "Tick," she brought back rock's unpredictability. As music increasingly sounds like a product polished and shined for mass consumption, Karen O still seems authentically volatile.

Her instrumentalist bandmates more than carry their own. On Fever To Tell, Nick Zinner stacked his claim as a certified guitar hero of hipster-dom, with his zooming slides and aggressive, gritty riffs. Combined with his distinctive hairstyle and penchant for Polaroid photography, he was destined to become a cult icon from the word go. Drummer Brian Chase has always been the band's secret weapon, as his shuffling rhythms imbue Yeah Yeah Yeahs' songs with surprising funkiness. He's far from a traditional, pounding rock drummer, but his style suits the band, supplying both power and subtlety as needed. Best heard on singles "Y Control" and "Pin," the band's ability to consistently craft a tight, compelling groove is staggering.

Fever To Tell starts with an unstoppable run of high-octane, punky songs, almost all of which seem to be about sex in one way or another. Yet, around the midpoint of the album, the band downshifts toward more midtempo material, revealing the other side of the band. Culminating in the indie rock power ballad "Maps," Yeah Yeah Yeahs revealed themselves to be an extraordinary pop band, crafting evocative songs about longing, romance and emotional pain. Its this side of their that the band would embrace fully for their next two releases, resulting in more critical acclaim and moderate chart success, although they've never had a hit to rival the exquisite "Maps." However, by jettisoning that earlier, punkier sound, Yeah Yeah Yeahs have lost a frightening amount of what made them initially special. Fever To Tell remains one of the most thrilling albums of the decade because of its balance of belligerent chaos and careful, restrained songcraft.

Next up on The New Classics: Madvillainy, Madvillain