Mosquito

Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ fourth album opens with a fuse being ignited. ‘Sacrilege’ begins in a rather pent-up fashion, with the sound of drums clattering ominously behind Karen O’s irresistibly breathless vocals (and my, how they’ve been missed). And then, after several minutes, comes the bang. A break in the clouds gives rise to a gospel choir, which proceeds to raise the song heavenward with an ecstatic refrain of “SAC-RI-LEGE YOUSAAAY!” until the whole thing collapses in a heap. It’s a huge comeback single, and easily one of the best songs of 2013 thus far.

As portents go, this is pretty big. Upon its arrival, ‘Sacrilege’ promised bolder, brighter horizons for the New York trio, especially in the wake of a somewhat prolonged absence. After It’s Blitz! dazzled the indie world by successfully incorporating ‘80s synth-pop into the YYY formula, you’d be forgiven for coming to Mosquito with exceptionally high hopes – compacted further given that one of these tracks was co-produced by James Murphy, king of cool.

Surprisingly, though, Mosquito’s moments of electrocution aren’t quite as sharp as some of Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ previous highlights, and nor are the album’s softer moments as instantly disarming as the likes of ‘Skeletons’ or ‘Maps’. In fact, contrary to what its lead single would suggest, Mosquito rarely grabs the listener by the throat. Whereas It’s Blitz! was an excitable hip-wiggler through and through, Mosquito is much more diverse, keen to zip from dot to dot in true swashbuckling style.

As a result, few songs on this album can be classed as unconditional masterpieces, but thankfully, the quality never dips too significantly to render Mosquito a real disappointment. Hearing these guys at work again is enthralling in its own right: Brian Chase’s drums rattle and roll, Nick Zinner dispenses his trademark swathes of stinging guitars, and Karen O’s vocals are as ripe and raucous as they’ve ever sounded.

The gospel bomb of ‘Sacrilege’ plummets into the spooky atmospheria of ‘Subway’, before the hammy squall of the title track arrives to zap listeners awake

with its squeals of “I’ll suck your blood!” If this all sounds a bit vampish on paper, it’s even more outlandish on record, with the latter track and ‘Area 52’ both providing heightened displays of YYY madness. But the strongest distillation of the group’s creative force comes in the form of ‘Under The Earth’. Supported by echoing jam blocks, a growling bass line and a gleefully ghostly choral section, Karen O’s earworm melodies lead a magnificent march of the undead. It’s warped and it’s wonky, but brilliant for it.

‘Slave’ is less impressive, not really offering much in the way of truly memorable hooks (beyond a relative rehashing of ‘Dull Life’), and while Karen O’s escalation to hysteria is pretty remarkable on ‘These Paths’, the song does stretch itself beyond the power of its rather static musical foundations. But every false start is countered with a dose of left-field intrigue. ‘Buried Alive’ features a Gorillaz-esque collaboration from Dr. Octagon (even if his guest vocal could do with a little more vigour), and in the ethereal ‘Wedding Song’, Mosquito is granted a beautifully direct closing statement. “In flames, I sleep soundly / With angels around me”, Karen O croons, in a final, potent reminder of how much we’ve missed having these guys on the scene.

On the whole, there’s no denying that Mosquito is the most uneven album of the band’s career thus far. Many will balk at its erratic trajectory, but by the same token, the sounds here are unmistakably those of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and these guys still make for great company even when they’re not as focused as normal. The bottom line is to simply give it a go. Stylistically scattershot it may be, but, as we all know by now, few musical journeys are as fun as delving into this group’s brand of rocky, schlocky fun.

Similar To: Metric, Deap Vally

MP3: ‘Sacrilege’, ‘Under The Earth’