For the month of October, I’m taking the #OctAtoZBandChallenge challenge. The premise is simple. Pick a band starting with the day’s assigned alphabet letter and then choose a song from that band.
Day 25
Coming up on another band that I discovered late. Being late to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs party, however, doesn’t feel like regret. Because once you arrive, all you think about is just the fact that you’re there. And being there is good. “Maps” might be the only song that I previously knew from the band. But after gravitating toward the band’s new album this year, I started making my way backwards in their catalog. I’ve loved everything I’ve heard so far. While many of their peers seemed to have a less diverse sound – think The Strokes and Interpol – Yeah Yeah Yeahs take a more divergent approach to exploring a variety of instrumental styles, tempos and themes. “Y Control” is a song where Yeah Yeah Yeahs switch into high gear, and I absolutely love it.
Every member of the band is going at full throttle here. Karen O sings with the swagger of a frontwoman who’s been doing this for a while. But this is from their debut album. Brian Chase’s drums are on a rampage of rhythm. And Nick Zinner’s guitar has undergone baptism by fire through a myriad of effects, distortion and a series of riffs that cut to the bone. I have no regrets discovering this song as late as I did. But what the hell was I thinking not going to the Japanese Breakfast / Yeah Yeah Yeahs tour that just passed through? Clearly, I wasn’t thinking at all.
“Oh so while you're growing old under the gun, gun, gun. And I believed them all. Well I'm just one poor baby 'cause well I believed them all.”