Album Review: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito

After adventuring into the lush realms of alternative pop, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs look to make a migration back to their rockier roots, however, they only make the partial return trip and pleasantly wind up occupying new spaces. For the most part the production is handled by the It's Blitz! (2009) tag-team of Nick Launey and David Andrew Sitek, and once more it's a successful synthesis. 

Sacrilege acts as the proverbial Trojan Horse, with Karen O's ever-infectious vocals conveying hints of raw energy over the top of a rather refined rock body that progressively swells with the accompanying aid of a choir. Now that they've been let in, Subway opens out to something that is far more minimal and restrained, yet braver and all the more exciting for it. With seemingly little emphasis placed on demanding the listener's attention they build a contemplative song structure by weaving gentle atmospheres, subtle guitar lines and melancholic vocals over the foundation of a train-over-tracks subway sample. With the exception of the James Murphy and Sam Spiegel produced, Dr Octagon rapping sidestep Buried Alive, Mosquito does a one-two back and forth between the more straight forward rock songs and these rather contemplative affairs that are more sculptural in their spatial concern. And a big part of its charm is that the varying elements of these recordings are all sewn into a production of consistent flow, resulting in the sort of equilibrium that escapes monotony.

While it's hard to imagine such abysmally tacky cover art becoming the icon of a classic, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs provide many engaging listening experiences on album number four.