Chris DeLine

From what will appear on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ upcoming Is Is EP comes a sensational track, “Down Boy.” The band’s attempt to capture and sustain suspense throughout the live video is becoming one of the key reasons the band has grown on me as like it has. Ever since “Miles Away” I’ve been hoping for another such song that snowballs into a conclusive piece of hidden frustration…and to some degree this song relieves that need. While it isn’t necessarily as hard driving as many of the group’s songs through the song Karen O revives the role of the lovesick outsider caught in a position absent of a remedy – a role she plays like no other.

From a musical standpoint however the slow driving melody that precedes Brian Chase’s beat is quite different from much of what the band has previously released. While atypical for Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the sound is quite reminiscent of some solo projects Karen O has been involved with aside from the band. The introduction to her track “Backass” sounds oddly similar (before Peaches blows the track up) to “Down Boy” as does the fantastic “Hello Tomorrow.” For those who may not remember the song it accompanied a 2005 Spike Jonze directed ADIDAS commercial; one of the uttermost brilliant commercials that I can recall as a matter of fact.

While “Down Boy” is as a song a few years old it is nonetheless a prime example of what the band has collectively grown into and it stands as good reason to believe that the remainder of the five song EP will also be fantastic.

[This post was first published by Culture Bully.]