The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Greatest Band In The World?

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I listen to the album right now and it's FUCKIN' great. What do you think?

― Böllers, Saturday, 15 January 2005 15:53 (twenty-one years ago)

better than bow wow wow by one thumb

― Snappy (sexyDancer), Saturday, 15 January 2005 15:56 (twenty-one years ago)

about a three and a half steps below Tin Machine, overall

― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Saturday, 15 January 2005 16:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Still not as good as "Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah" by the Pogues.

― dlp9001, Saturday, 15 January 2005 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

`Tis a fine record, but I can't remember the last time I played it (or wanted to hear it).

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 15 January 2005 16:32 (twenty-one years ago)

A great album, but not as good as "The Scream", by SATB, which they are fans of, so I've read.

― mnm, Saturday, 15 January 2005 16:35 (twenty-one years ago)

It's pleasant enough, but, y'know....

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Saturday, 15 January 2005 16:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Why do people say shit like this?

― Chris Davis (Chris Davis), Saturday, 15 January 2005 16:40 (twenty-one years ago)

trash talk

― Masked Gazza, Saturday, 15 January 2005 16:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I have no idea what the greatest band in the world is, but Fever To Tell is still my favorite album from 2003.

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 15 January 2005 17:00 (twenty-one years ago)

My head must be soft, I read that title and pronounced 'fever' like the world 'never.'

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 15 January 2005 17:02 (twenty-one years ago)

"better than bow wow wow by one thumb"

so untrue it's not even funny. well, okay, it's kinda funny. bow wow wow had at least 30 great songs. yyy's have, maybe, half of one. no, i'll be fair, they have at least 2/3 of a good song.

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 15 January 2005 17:35 (twenty-one years ago)

It's fair, I'll give you that much. But it is nowhere near as memorable as My Fair Lady, for instance.

― milton porker, Saturday, 15 January 2005 17:56 (twenty-one years ago)

I mean, Bow Wow Wow had great songs like Sexy Eiffel Towers, Uomo Sex Al Apache, Lonesome Tonight, Mickey Put It Down, Love Me, Baby, Oh No, Joy Of Eating Raw Flesh, Mario (Your Own Way To Paradise), El Boss Dicho, C30, C60, C90, Go!, Sun, Sea And Piracy, Louis Quatorze, Fools Rush In, Radio G String, Giant Sized Baby Thing, W.O.R.K., Mile High Club, Orang-Outang, Chihuahua, (I'm A ) TV Savage, King Kong, Go Wild In The Country, I Want Candy, Elimination Dancing, Do You Wanna Hold Me, What's The Time? (Hey Buddy), Aphrodisiac, Rikki Dee, Love, Peace & Harmony, Cowboy, Roustabout, Prince Of Darkness (Sinner, Sinner), and many more. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs just have that one song that everyone likes. And even that song idn't that great.

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 15 January 2005 18:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I totally misread that line as "Lil' Bow Wow."

Scott, I have no idea if Bow Wow Wow is any good, but you're trippin' on this "2/3 song" thing. Hardcore.

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 15 January 2005 18:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I've always assumed the YYYs would be shit, since the NME plugged them so heavily. I suppose I'll have to actually listen to them now.

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Saturday, 15 January 2005 18:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Basically they're to the Pretenders what the Stooges were to the Rolling Stones. That's my line.

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 15 January 2005 18:11 (twenty-one years ago)

*waits for somebody in their 30s or 40s to list 90 bands more deserving of that mantle*

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 15 January 2005 18:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Worst female vocalist in rock music today!

― Suedey (John Cei Douglas), Saturday, 15 January 2005 18:15 (twenty-one years ago)

What are you doing listening to classic rock like the Pretenders, Anthony? ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 15 January 2005 18:21 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm just being mean, anthony. their album is okay. not THAT memorable though. i like the it's our time to be hated song. whatever that's called.

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 15 January 2005 18:22 (twenty-one years ago)

They are in fact one of the greatest bands in the world right now. The album really should have had "Bang" and "Machine" on it. Nick Zinner actually does some new things with a guitar. Karen O is a star. They're nice. "Maps" really shows their potential and was one of the two best songs of 2003. I'm very eagerly awaiting the next album.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Saturday, 15 January 2005 19:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Basically they're to the Pretenders what the Stooges were to the Rolling Stones. That's my line.

That's a pretty good line, except that the Stooges were actually a more-than-one-good-song band. They had some songs I'd even call "great."

YYYs mostly just bore me. And when the band as a whole is not boring me, Karen's pissing me off. She sounds like a rodent being stabbed.

― martin m. (mushrush), Saturday, 15 January 2005 19:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeahs/Pretenders = Eyehategod/Skynyrd

― dave q (listerine), Saturday, 15 January 2005 20:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I really didn't like the YYYs at all when I first heard them, but they've been growing on me in a major way. They aren't revolutionary, but they're a lot of fun.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Saturday, 15 January 2005 20:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeahs/Pretenders = Eyehategod/Skynyrd

Yes!

― martin m. (mushrush), Saturday, 15 January 2005 20:26 (twenty-one years ago)

more like: yeahs/divinyls = drivin' & cryin'/skynyrd

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 15 January 2005 20:54 (twenty-one years ago)

i've actually never heard drivin' & cryin'. or if i have, i was asleep.

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 15 January 2005 21:01 (twenty-one years ago)

"Our Year to Be Hated" is just "Crimson and Clover" (but it's better?)

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 15 January 2005 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Wow my Drivin' and Cryin' thread sure opened up a can of worms for me.

― martin m. (mushrush), Saturday, 15 January 2005 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Karen O said they were inspired by the Joan Jett version of "Crimson & Clover".
Tommy James & the Shondells did it first and best.

― mnm, Saturday, 15 January 2005 21:11 (twenty-one years ago)

You know that song Pin where the singer does that scat-type part in the chorus?

That's the gayest sounding thing ever committed to tape (or hard-drive).

― Timmy Wintermint, Saturday, 15 January 2005 21:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I can hear the Divinyls thing (or more accurately I can see it though I think the difference in on-stage-and-record persona between Jagger and Pop is more evocative) but Karen is way more sloppy spazz. and I'm not sure that's what separates D'N'C from Skynyrd.

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 15 January 2005 22:15 (twenty-one years ago)

What separates D'n'C from Skynyrd is probably Kevn Kinney listening to too much Ramones as a kid. Skynyrd are better at their brand of rock then D'n'C are. And the biggest separation is probably that Skynyrd have more focus. They're less all-over-the-map stylistically and qualitatively.

But yes, I don't think that's an airtight comparison either. The Pretenders make the YYYs look like a bunch of kids playing in the garage. Oh, wait...

― martin m. (mushrush), Saturday, 15 January 2005 22:25 (twenty-one years ago)

The Pretenders are overrated, no? Decent singles band ("Brass in Pocket" is classic).

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 15 January 2005 22:34 (twenty-one years ago)

haha "inspired by" that's a good one!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 15 January 2005 22:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Anyway, by which I mean to say that the idea that those "kids in the garage" don't hold a candle to the supposedly all time classic Pretenders doesn't hold water for me.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 15 January 2005 22:39 (twenty-one years ago)

I wasn't implying that the Pretenders were "all time classic." Just that they put the YYYs to shame. Even if they're just a "decent singles band" that still indicates that they have more than one decent song.

― martin m. (mushrush), Saturday, 15 January 2005 22:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Heheh... Though I did realize that my whole stunted "oh wait..." at the end of that original comment could be interpreted several ways. As a piss take of Drivin' and Cryin' or the Pretenders, for example.

― martin m. (mushrush), Saturday, 15 January 2005 22:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Don't the Rolling Stones put the Stooges to shame? If not, why?

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 15 January 2005 22:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Dude, "Maps" AND "Y Control!" And there are other good songs on the album, too! Which is better, first Pretenders album or Fever to Tell?

Miccio, the answer to your question is NO.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 15 January 2005 22:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Why not? Because the Stooges were grebt and had little to do with the Stones anyway so why the comparison?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 15 January 2005 22:46 (twenty-one years ago)

You can't hear a sonic similarity between Pop and Jagger?

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 15 January 2005 22:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Vaguely.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 15 January 2005 22:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Which is better, first Pretenders album or Fever to Tell?

I'll admit I'm totally not qualified to be arguing on this more than superficially cause to be honest I don't like either band all that much. It's just that the Pretenders don't annoy me as much as YYYs.

The whole thing is obviously horribly subjective anyway. I'd rather listen to the Stooges than the Stones, but then I kinda hate the Stones, so there you go...

― martin m. (mushrush), Saturday, 15 January 2005 22:49 (twenty-one years ago)

The differences and similarities between the Pretenders and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs remind me of the differences and similarities between the Stones and the Stooges. Sloppier, more obvious self-objectification and masochism, arguably cartoonish and dumb, more dependence on mere volume, "primitive," spazz, etc, etc

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 15 January 2005 22:52 (twenty-one years ago)

but I think the qualities that make people enjoy the Stooges in a way they don't enjoy the Stones could be used to make a case for the YYYs.

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 15 January 2005 22:52 (twenty-one years ago)

That's reasonable, duder.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 15 January 2005 22:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Holly & The Italians had a way better debut than the YYYs. Let alone the Pretenders. Yeah, i wouldn't compare stooges & stones, but i know where my allegiances lie. i do love both, but they are different beasts.

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 15 January 2005 23:16 (twenty-one years ago)

pretenders debut is almost perfect. to me.

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 15 January 2005 23:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I like Fever To Tell more than The Pretenders but I like Fun House more than Now!

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 15 January 2005 23:20 (twenty-one years ago)

anthony, you want a tape of holly's debut and the nuns album? (nuns being pre-hardcore pop-punk with male/female vox that is sweeeeeeeet.) i'm only guessing that you haven't heard holly's album.

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 15 January 2005 23:22 (twenty-one years ago)

sure thing! I want a tape of all the bands you mentioned in your Interpol album even more, though I think I can get stuff by the Sound from my friend William. I need some Chameleons bad, though.

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 15 January 2005 23:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Interpol review, I mean.

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 15 January 2005 23:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Looking at the track listing (don't own the thing), that first Pretenders album does look pretty good. THANK YOU FOR SETTING ME RIGHT, SKOT.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 15 January 2005 23:33 (twenty-one years ago)

I need some Chameleons bad, though.

Most wise. :-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 15 January 2005 23:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Tis a fine record, but I can't remember the last time I played it (or wanted to hear it).

My thoughts exactly.

― o. nate (onate), Saturday, 15 January 2005 23:43 (twenty-one years ago)

dude, what did i mention in my interpol review that was so crazy? i'm not making you a smiths tape! and why you haven't picked up some chameleons by now is beyond me. wait, i think i did mention roman holiday in that review. "zodiac, cadillac, i'm a motor-maniac!" i think i'm fresh out of roman holiday though. maybe you need some polecats:"it's a diode, cathode, electrode overload, generator, oscillator, make a circuit with me!" or some blue zoo. or some passion puppets. or some maurice & the cliches.

smiths completists/obsessives who bought polecats records on ebay can come out of hiding now.

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 15 January 2005 23:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Honest I wasn't trying to hide.

― martin m. (mushrush), Sunday, 16 January 2005 00:01 (twenty-one years ago)

and why you haven't picked up some chameleons by now is beyond me

I live next to Penn State, dude. It's not exactly a waterfall of cheap obscurities. And I'm not exactly loaded with cash.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 16 January 2005 00:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Scott hasn't hardly even listened to this album because I immediately took off with it so I can listen to it at work, so I don't even kow where he's getting off with that "2/3 of one good song" shit. Freaking rabblerouser. The album is great. Karen O or whatever her name is sings with spirit rarely found in rock today.

― Maria D. (Maria D.), Sunday, 16 January 2005 00:06 (twenty-one years ago)

2/3 of one good song

hahahaha- I missed that upthread. I would agree with this statement too (assuming you're talking about "Maps" - which could obviously use another verse or bridge or something), except that it overlooks "Black Tongue" and "Y Control".

― o. nate (onate), Sunday, 16 January 2005 00:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Maria you have made my day.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 16 January 2005 00:14 (twenty-one years ago)

The video for "Y Control" is one of Spike Jonze's best... if not his best... kinda terrifying and funny.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Sunday, 16 January 2005 03:44 (twenty-one years ago)

not into it. never have been never will. a little too much forced beer sloshing "wildness" for my tastes, seems insincere. but MAPS IS a good song. I also liked "Bang" from their EP

― owen reading, Monday, 17 January 2005 23:46 (twenty years ago)

Y Control and Maps and that I'm Rich song are good, I (think) I like the album, but I don't remember it that much, it's been awhile.

Man, they could use a great bass player though. something seems missing....

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 17 January 2005 23:59 (twenty years ago)

I wouldn't be against adding an extra musician for the live show, though its plenty entertaining regardless.

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 00:04 (twenty years ago)

well... i react to karen o in that i find her simultaneously sexy and totally boring and normal seeming... but even if i didn't like the band i know i would be smitten with the video.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 00:15 (twenty years ago)

I think she sounds quite like Siouxsie.

― OleM (OleM), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 08:09 (twenty years ago)

almost as good as candy flip (strawberry fields)

― spacegurl, Tuesday, 18 January 2005 08:25 (twenty years ago)

i don't think they bring anything new to the table. but maybe i've just heard them too much. they certainly aren't BAD, they just aren't....all that memorable either

― sarah foley, Tuesday, 18 January 2005 17:24 (twenty years ago)

five months pass...

so i only just heard "Our Time" as of like last week cuz i've been wary as fuck of whatever you classify this stuff as, but it is a very good alt-pop song...i almost wish it was a litle meaner somehow...

...i think the chorus is destined to be used in a commercial for something like extreme tampons marketed to tween-girls or more realistically, Coke.

― Jimmy_tango, Monday, 11 July 2005 19:28 (twenty years ago)

seventeen years pass...

Not sure I ever heard another YYYs song after "Y Control" and "Maps" but the first EP is still a lot of fun, it really captures the feeling of being a 22-year old dirtbag.

― papal hotwife (milo z), Thursday, 28 July 2022 08:21 (three years ago)

one month passes...

This is a really good interview.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/karen-o-has-found-a-more-joyful-kind-of-wildness

― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 12 September 2022 00:36 (three years ago)

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