Yeah Yeah Yeahs

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Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Background information
Origin New York City, United States
Genre(s) Art rock
Indie rock
Garage rock revival
Post-punk revival
Alternative rock
Years active 2000–present
Label(s) Interscope, Fiction
Website Official website
Members
Karen O
Nick Zinner
Brian Chase

Yeah Yeah Yeahs is a New York City-based punk band. The band consists of lead singer Karen O, drummer Brian Chase, and guitarist Nick Zinner. In 2000 they formed a trio, and were later joined by second guitarist Imaad Wasif in 2006 for touring purposes. According to an interview that aired during the ABC network's Live from Central Park SummerStage series, the band's name was taken from modern New York City vernacular. The band has recorded two studio albums; the first, Fever to Tell, was released in 2003. The second, Show Your Bones, was released in 2006 and was named the second best album of the year by NME.

Contents

[edit] History

Karen O and Brian Chase first met as students at Oberlin College in Ohio in the late '90s, where Chase was a jazz student at the conservatory. Karen then transferred to New York University, and while in New York met Zinner in a local bar, where they formed an 'instant connection'. The two formed an acoustic duo, before deciding to form a punk band not dissimilar to the 'trashy, punky, grimy' art student groups that Karen had left behind in Ohio.[1] Yeah Yeah Yeahs' debut release was a self-titled EP, released in 2001. They followed it with another EP, Machine, in 2002.

In 2003, the band released their first complete album, Fever to Tell, which received several strong critical reviews and sold more than 750,000 copies worldwide. The album's third single, "Maps", received significant airplay on alternative radio. The video for their 2004 single "Y Control" was directed by acclaimed director Spike Jonze, who was involved with the band's lead singer Karen O for a period.[citation needed] In October 2004, the band released their first DVD, Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow. The DVD included a concert filmed at The Fillmore in San Francisco, all of the band's music videos to date, and various interviews.

Karen O performing at Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn, NY May 7, 2007.
Karen O performing at Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn, NY May 7, 2007.

Their second album, Show Your Bones, was released on March 27/28, 2006. The album's producer, Sam "Squeak E. Clean" Spiegel – who had previously collaborated with Karen O on the song "Hello Tomorrow" for an Adidas commercial directed by Sam's brother (and Karen's ex-boyfriend), Jonze[citation needed] – told MTV News that it was a concept album about Karen's cat, and would be titled Coco Beware. However, MTV was forced to retract the story, noting that Spiegel had failed to mention that he was joking.[citation needed] Karen O told online zine Drowned in Sound, "Show Your Bones is what happens when you put your finger in a light socket," crediting "9 year old antigenius wonder-kid Drake Barrett for the insight."[2] The first single from the album, "Gold Lion", was released on March 20, 2006, reaching 18 in the Official UK Singles Chart. It has been noted by Leah Greenblatt that "Gold Lion" sounds startlingly similar to "No New Tale To Tell" from 1980s alternative favorites Love and Rockets.[3] The band toured throughout Europe and the United States during much of 2006, and also band helped to curate an edition of the British All Tomorrow's Parties festival.

The non-album track "Sealings" was released on both the Driver: Parallel Lines, Vol. 1 Official Soundtrack and the Spiderman 3 Official Soundtrack.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' most recent EP, titled Is Is, was released on July 24, 2007. It includes 5 previously unreleased songs and a short film, recorded and filmed at the GlassLands Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. The songs were written in 2004, during the Fever To Tell tour, and performed live often.[citation needed] Three of the five tracks were featured on the "Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow" DVD.[4] They are also going to be releasing a DVD of a performance on May 7 in New York directed by Patrick Daughters. However, the DVD of the performance is yet to be released. The iTunes store added all the performances in video form.[citation needed]

Karen O and Nick Zinner both appear as guests on Tiny Masters of Today's album Bang Bang Boom Cake. The song was written via email and features Karen singing.

The band is currently in the countryside working on their third LP, which is said, once again, to be inspired by cats, a theme of the band.

The band became one of the first western rock acts to play China when they headlined the Modern Sky Festival in Beijing in 2007.[5]

An acoustic version of the song "Gold Lion" is included on the Mississippi Studios Live, Vol. III compilation.[6]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Year Album information Chart positions
USA UK AUS FRA NOR

[7]
2003 Fever to Tell 55 13 - 70 39
2006 Show Your Bones 11 7 17 96 -

[edit] EPs

[edit] Singles

Year Song U.S. Hot 100 U.S. Modern Rock U.S. Pop 100 UK Singles Chart Album
2002 "Machine" - - - 37 Machine
2003 "Date with the Night" - - - 16 Fever to Tell
2003 "Pin" - - - 29
2004 "Maps" 87 9 - 26
2004 "Y Control" - - - 54
2006 "Gold Lion" 88 14 68 18 Show Your Bones
2006 "Turn Into" - - - 53
2006 "Cheated Hearts" - - - -
2006 "Sealings" - - - - Driver Parallel Lines Soundtrack
2007 "Sealings"(re-release) - - - - Spider-Man 3: The Official Soundtrack
2007 "Down Boy" - - - - Is Is EP

[edit] DVDs


[edit] Notable appearances

 This section does not cite any references or sources. (February 2008)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
  • Yeah Yeah Yeahs were named Artist of the Month on Yahoo's Launch.com for October 2004.
  • Yeah Yeah Yeahs made their television debut on The Late Show with David Letterman.
  • "Gold Lion" was also featured in the ad for Yves Saint Laurent Elle, a perfume.
  • Yeah Yeah Yeahs album Fever To Tell is in the book "1001 Albums You Need To Hear Before You Die"

[edit] Use in soundtrack and video games

  • The song "Black Tongue" was in the video game True Crime: New York City.
  • The song "Maps" is featured in the video game Rock Band. The song "Date With the Night" is also available to play as downloadable content.
  • The song "Sealings" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was in the video game Driver: Parallel Lines and is played during gameplay.
  • The song "Sealings" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was also in the movie Spider-Man 3 as the third track in the soundtrack album.
  • "Kiss Kiss" was featured in the video game Need For Speed: ProStreet.
  • "Kiss Kiss" was featured on the Gossip Girl episode "The Handmaiden's Tale."
  • "Kiss Kiss" was featured on the episode "Personal Foul" of the television show CSI: NY in 2008.
  • "Rockers to Swallow" was featured on the Grey's Anatomy episode "The Heart of the Matter."
  • "Gold Lion" was also featured in Grey's Anatomy, in the season 2 episode 17 Seconds.
  • "Phenomena" is featured in the credits of The Ruins.

[edit] References

  1. ^ You must specify title = and url = when using {{cite web}}..
  2. ^ www.drownedinsound.com/content/view/562122.
  3. ^ www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,1204700_4_0_,00.html.
  4. ^ www.nme.com/news/yeah-yeah-yeahs/28940.
  5. ^ Sisario, Ben. "For All the Rock in China", New York Times, 2007-11-25. Retrieved on 2007-12-03. 
  6. ^ Baker, Jeff. "Everybody sing 'yeah'", The Oregonian, 2007-12-21. Retrieved on 2008-01-08. 
  7. ^ http://www.australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Yeah+Yeah+Yeahs&titel=Fever+To+Tell&cat=a

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Karen O | Nick Zinner | Brian Chase
Studio albums
EPs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 2001 | Machine, 2002 | Let Me Know/Gold Lion Remixes, 2006 | Is Is, 2007
Singles
"Bang!" | "Art Star" | "Date with the Night" | "Pin" | "Maps" | "Y Control" | "Gold Lion" | "Turn Into" | "Cheated Hearts" | "Sealings" | "Down Boy" | "Rockers to Swallow"
DVDs
Categories