Mosquito

A Middle-of-the-Road Effort
One thing you can't accuse Yeah Yeah Yeahs of is being stale. Each album since their explosive debut has managed to find the band maturing and dipping their feet in various genres and styles. While these experiments may have been met with mixed reaction from some circles it's also shown them to be a group that refuses to box themselves into a corner. Mosquito is a mixture of everything they've done before while simultaneously exploring new soundscapes, yet it doesn't grab you or explode from your speakers the way you hope it will. Aside from the bizarre cover art the rest of the album merely skids by and the end result is an uneven effort that feels half-baked.

"Sacrilege" is a bold choice for an opening track and first single, complete with its gospel choir and funky groove. Initially this track seemed very weak but repeated listens definitely reward the listener and I've grown to like it thoroughly, though it lacks the kick that some of their previous singles have...

Critics be damned
As a fan of Kool Keith, it's enough for me that he rose to the occasion, and in some small way redeemed my feelings about the LCD Soundsystem guy's production.

Critics hated this, it would seem, due to it's campy song ideas, and limited hi-fi dynamics, but by featuring the king of left0field rappers on a song, the inspiration for these ideas seems less out-of-the-blue.

I'm still having fun listening to this album, after roughly five plays of the whole thing. I keep waiting for that point when I grow annoyed with songs about aliens, mosquito, being buried alive, etc, but at some point you have to ask yourself if you really want more songs about essentially the same topic that every song by anyone has ever been about, love. Maybe you do, so you can relate better, but I refuse to believe that any of these songs on this album are purely literal, and the last thing I want is a mere re-tread of their last album.

Every great songwriter has to get bored. What...

Yeah yeah yeah yeahs
This album basically combines everywhere this band has been so far. It has the raw elements of Fever to Tell with the strong song writing of Show your Bones with the tighter musicality of Its Blitz. There are times when it seems to borderline overproduction but they stop at the line unlike they did on Its Blitz.
The album starts off with Sacrilage which reminds you of why you started to listen to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It starts out lighthearted and then Karen O uses her raw vocals to sustain. Eventually their is a gospeleque feel to the song.
The 2nd track Subway is an eerie track that really makes you feel like you are waiting in a lightly busy subway terminal on a dark rainy night.
The title track Mosquito has this driving bass but picks up the pace of the album. It has that signature Karen O strange raw vocal. The music is straight up rock which we don't get much these days.
Than back to the eerie with track 4 Under the Earth. It has a great beat and musicality...

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