Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- Show Your Bones

When Art Pop trio Yeah Yeah Yeahs first made waves, it was on the heels of a frantic self-titled EP on Touch & Go Records in 2002. A spastic blast of controlled noise and vocal chaos courtesy of compelling frontwoman Karen O, the band seemed poised for "underground sensation" status. Then came major label Interscope and wide radio and video exposure with the single, "Maps." The Yeahs smoothed out their sonic approach on the breakthrough, Fever to Tell, but the frazzled guitar textures, uniquely creative drumming and bug-eyed vocal charisma were still in check, just sleeker, slightly buried and more suited for mass consumption. The band's "sell out" wasn't a concession on par with Liz Phair's; the Yeahs' evolution seemed natural, the result of maturity rather than greed. Show Your Bones builds on Fever's growth spurt, but, unfortunately, the songs on this and Fever are almost interchangeable. Not to say Bones isn't a good album -- the single "Gold Lion" is Siouxsie Sioux (whose influence on O gets clearer with every release) fronting Love and Rockets' "No New Tale To Tell," "Fancy" is an epic swoosh of stream-of-conscious melody and fantastically messy guitar ruckus and "Phenomena" is the coolest LL Cool J reference since Sonic Youth's "Kool Thing." But tracks like "Cheated Hearts" and "Dudley" just feel like the trio is going through the motions, toning down the quirk and amping up the straight-faced Pop factor. Overall, the Yeahs nicely balance accessibility with artsy progressiveness, but knowing the imaginative heights they are capable of, the less adventurous songs fall even flatter. (Mike Breen) Grade: B

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