Yeah Yeah Yeahs "It's Blitz!" [2009]

Not even when you get your jollies laughing at bad music efforts like I do is it at all pleasant to see desperation emerge within small-time indie groups when they're about to be flushed out of the system if they don't come up with a pop hit pronto. In the case of Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O., she has willingly transformed herself from brash 00s punk slut to 80s-style Quarterflash slut (she may as well have changed her name to "Karen O. Shit"). The rude garage guitars are permanently supplanted by tame New Order keyboard washes and suburban mall dance beats. Not that this band didn't have sickly sweet pop tendencies early on, but this aggressive foray into the marketplace results in a tidal wave of underwhelmingness. Maybe Karen O.'s just all fucked-out, but in that case she missed a great opportunity to cover Lili von Shtupp's "I'm Tired" from "Blazing Saddles." Even in the few moments when they try to rock they can't really manage it anymore; maybe they should have tried to sell-out even earlier in their career. So while maybe indeed "It's Blitz!" it sounds like Yeah Yeah Yeahs are only sacking themselves.