Yeah Yeah Yeahs & the Amazing Dance Offensive

Feel-good music from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs? Who’d have thought? “We’re trying to focus on pleasure more than pain, for once,” explains lead singer Karen O, laughing. “It’s about nudging people a little closer to the dance floor,” she says of It's Blitz!, the band’s third studio album. “We’re working hard to generate as much good feeling as possible, which, you know, isn’t always easy.”

If the nihilism and rough edges of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ early records now sound zeitgeist-defining for their time, the dance-oriented sheen of It’s Blitz is also equally of the moment. With the global economy spiraling out of control and an increasingly doom-obsessed media, there’s suddenly a new validity to the therapeutic value of escapism. Having recorded songs earlier in the day for the film Where the Wild Things Are (directed by Spike Jonze, Karen O’s former flame, circa 2005—she is now happily partnered with video director Barnaby Clay), the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were primed for more bombast at the photo session, which segued from the Santa Monica Piers to dingy hotel rooms, where Karen O insisted on a bottle of Veuve Clicquot to add a bit of effervescence to the proceedings. 

Critics be damned, a party vibe is where the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ heads and hearts are at. Despite all the hubbub online and the grousing from music journalists about the band’s surprising new direction, It’s Blitz still has the hallmarks of classic Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Nick Zinner’s guitars might have the crisp drone of vintage synthesizers and Brian Chase’s drums might sound slightly more like finely tuned machines (“Reports on the death of my guitars have been greatly exaggerated,” says Zinner), but the band’s revelatory spirit—not to mention Karen’s unmistakable shout—still anchor the album in the same art-rock foundation that characterized its earlier work. That said, the band has never sounded more groove-driven than it does on tracks like “Zero” or “Heads Will Roll.” For Chase, the process of discovery was just as invigorating as listening to the final product. “It’s extra-exciting considering that we came into the studio with no songs,” he says. “It was a long process of figuring out how we wanted our new music to sound. We truly worked from scratch.”

Having endured the creation of the classically difficult sophomore album, 2006’s Show Your Bones, as well as a rumored near-breakup, all three members currently appear genuinely relieved to be moving into the next phase of what has already been a tumultuous career. “There were points when it all felt like too much for me, when I wasn’t sure if I was honestly cut out for doing this with my life,” recalls Karen. “But, ultimately, what didn’t kill us made us stronger. Plus, the good things we’ve all experienced as a result of being in this band far outweigh the negatives. It’s really been an amazing gift, this band,even if it didn’t always feel that way.”

On the subject of near-breakups, Nick Zinner echoes similar sentiments. “The fact of the matter is that we all love this band so much and love each other so much, it was just a matter of recognizing the good things in each other and pushing through it.”

Just as the band’s sound has evolved, so will its stage show. A fourth member will be added to the lineup for touring purposes (in order to flesh out the synthier tracks from Blitz). “I could never out-crazy myself from the first two years of touring behind Fever to Tell. That was seriously another level of crazy,” says Karen, a performer infamous for her beer- spitting, stage-devouring persona. “Trying to recreate my past antics would be the same thing as putting on an act, and I never want to do that. I can only do what the music makes me feel.”

“We’re playing much bigger rooms this time around,” says Zinner. “We just had two shows in London sell out in under an hour, which is really crazy to us. Plus, we’ll be playing huge festivals. I’m not worried, though. Karen is such an amazing performer that you can’t ever give her too much space to work with. No stage is big enough!”

Or style bold enough. Karen’s close friend and longtime stylist Christian Joy will once again be creating the wild outfits she wears on the upcoming tour, which in the past have included a skeleton suit with detachable intestines and a giant stuffed shrimp boa. “She usually makes about six different outfits for me,” says the fearless frontwoman. “I’m hoping to have costume changes in our upcoming show, so I need lots of looks!”

Since the earliest days of the band, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have always had a carefully considered aesthetic—a thoughtfulness that carries through from Karen’s stage wear to the band’s videos to the album packaging. (The It’s Blitz cover is an Urs Fischer photograph of Karen’s hand squeezing an egg to the point of explosion.) “I was in film school at the time we started the band, so I’ve always been interested in the different aspects of our visual aesthetic,” she says. “Being in a band is the perfect vehicle if you’re also a visual artist—you can do a little bit of everything. I’ve always wanted it all to have a very cinematic quality, be it frightening or beautiful.”

Photos by Shawn Mortensen.