{"id":6624,"date":"2013-04-07T08:16:57","date_gmt":"2013-04-07T12:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=6624"},"modified":"2015-10-17T18:11:33","modified_gmt":"2015-10-17T22:11:33","slug":"album-review-yeah-yeah-yeahs-mosquito","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=6624","title":{"rendered":"Album review: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Mosquito"},"content":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Matt Juniper<\/a><\/p>\n

Artist:<\/strong> Yeah Yeah Yeahs
\nRelease:<\/strong> Mosquito (2013)
\nLabel:<\/strong> Interscope
\nRating:<\/strong> 4 \/ 5<\/p>\n

\"mosquito\"<\/a>The Yeah Yeah Yeahs never needed to shake things up. The punk \/ garage rock formula on ‘Fever To Tell’ suited them so incredibly well they could probably have gone on to make four albums like that to consistent acclaim. That Karen O spent the next 3 albums pushing the envelope in countless ways, writing everything from FM-pop to synth-heavy dance to straightforward indie rock, was a bold move.
\n<\/code><\/p>\n

Following two fierce guitar driven albums with a synth-driven dark dance tune (Zero<\/em>) turned off a lot of fans. For me, it was this point in their career where they went from an enjoyable, one-dimensional punk band to genre-transcending superstars. ‘It\u2019s Blitz‘<\/i> didn\u2019t seem as strong initially as the material that preceded it but it ultimately proved to be their most rewarding listen to date. Hysteric<\/i> remains my favourite YYY\u2019s track but I didn\u2019t even pay it attention until about 20 listens in.<\/p>\n

For album number four, ‘Mosquito‘<\/i>, they kick things off with some of the most god-awful artwork I\u2019ve seen (see above) and then they hired a 24-piece gospel choir for the first single and album opener Sacrilege<\/i>. Well, why the hell not? Further exploration of this album reveals songs about everything from aliens to mosquitos to subway rides to a ridiculous 90s-style rap verse from Dr. Octogan. And I wouldn\u2019t spend too much time looking for deeper meanings here. It is clear Karen O isn\u2019t taking herself too seriously here and neither should you.<\/p>\n

[youtube_sc url=”http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jmRI3Ew4BvA” theme=”light”]<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t mistake that light-heartedness for a band any less determined to better themselves. Sacrilege<\/i> absolutely explodes out of the gate, one of the more memorable singles by any band this year. Mosquito<\/i> leans heavily on Karen\u2019s vocals to turn what would be a purely ridiculous track in less capable hands into something badass. Under the Earth<\/i> revisits the strong points of ‘Show Your Bones‘<\/i>. These Paths<\/i> puts a pop twist on Crystal Castles signature sound. And after all that, the album gets super serious. Always<\/i>, Despair<\/i>, and Wedding Song<\/i> are a trifecta of songs that increase in quality and emotion as they progress and represent the more tender side of the YYYs better than anything they\u2019ve done in their career. The absurdity of Area 52<\/i> vanishes in an instant and its like it never happened as you are sucked in to the tender, intimate atmosphere.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is that ‘Mosquito‘\u00a0<\/i>is a bit all over the place, but intentionally so. A track like Sacrilege<\/em> would seem out of place rubbing shoulders with a slow burner like Subway<\/em> on pretty much any other album. But with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs I can\u2019t imagine any other way I would want to play out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Matt Juniper Artist: Yeah Yeah Yeahs Release: Mosquito (2013) Label: Interscope Rating: 4 \/ 5 The Yeah Yeah Yeahs never needed to shake things up. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[28,30,33],"tags":[73,1941,1942,1339],"class_list":["post-6624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-new-release","category-review","tag-album","tag-mosquito","tag-sacrilege","tag-yeah-yeah-yeahs-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/31kareno4-articleLarge-v3.jpg?fit=600%2C666&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2B2TV-1IQ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24042,"url":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=24042","url_meta":{"origin":6624,"position":0},"title":"Drop In The Bucket offer up exclusive Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ ‘Under The Earth’ remix","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"December 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Drop In The Bucket have offered up an exclusive remix of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Under The Earth. The remix by Nick Launay and Ming Vauze is part of the charity organization Drop in the Bucket's initiative to provide clean drinking to sub-Saharan Africa. Take a listen to the track\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?cat=28"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yeah Yeah Yeahs","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/yeah-yeah-yeahs-02.jpeg?fit=500%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3239,"url":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=3239","url_meta":{"origin":6624,"position":1},"title":"Nick Zinner from Yeah Yeah Yeahs remixes Chew Lips","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"July 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Nick Zinner (of the Yeah Yeah Yeah\u2019s) has given Chew Lips\u2019 new single Do You Chew? the remix treatment. Zinner changes the vibes of Chew Lips' new single by adding synths, giving it a marching band drum rhythm and stripping back lead singer Tigs' vocal. To accompany the remix, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "indie"","block_context":{"text":"indie","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"Chew Lips","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/chew-lips.jpg?fit=700%2C700&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/chew-lips.jpg?fit=700%2C700&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/chew-lips.jpg?fit=700%2C700&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/chew-lips.jpg?fit=700%2C700&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30040,"url":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=30040","url_meta":{"origin":6624,"position":2},"title":"The Faint release new single ‘Chameleon Nights’","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"November 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Faint have returned with their first new music since 2016 with the single, Chameleon Nights. While the song\u2019s dark danceability and grim tone leaves it right at home with The Faint\u2019s body of work, it's unmistakably shaped by the world today and pulls the band's sound to new places.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "indie"","block_context":{"text":"indie","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Faint","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/a91f0315-8996-4fff-9904-1c3768bfa819.jpg?fit=1200%2C671&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/a91f0315-8996-4fff-9904-1c3768bfa819.jpg?fit=1200%2C671&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/a91f0315-8996-4fff-9904-1c3768bfa819.jpg?fit=1200%2C671&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/a91f0315-8996-4fff-9904-1c3768bfa819.jpg?fit=1200%2C671&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/a91f0315-8996-4fff-9904-1c3768bfa819.jpg?fit=1200%2C671&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26996,"url":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=26996","url_meta":{"origin":6624,"position":3},"title":"Yeah Yeah Yeahs announce ‘Fever To Tell’ vinyl reissue","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"September 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Yeah Yeah Yeahs \u00a0have announced details of a vinyl reissue of their seminal, ground-breaking debut 'Fever To Tell', on October 20th via Interscope Records \/ UMe. The album will be available as a Limited Edition Deluxe Box, Standard LP, and Digital deluxe and standard re-mastered editions. Pre-Order for all editions\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "guitar rock"","block_context":{"text":"guitar rock","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yeah Yeah Yeahs Fever To Tell reissue","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Packshot.jpg?fit=900%2C540&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Packshot.jpg?fit=900%2C540&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Packshot.jpg?fit=900%2C540&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Packshot.jpg?fit=900%2C540&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7014,"url":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=7014","url_meta":{"origin":6624,"position":4},"title":"Music Video Addiction: Sunday May 12, 2013 edition","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"May 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"We took a bit of a hiatus since we didn't post any music videos last week. We are back this week with some exceptional videos. Sit back and listen \/ view, and make sure to share and \/ or leave a comment since we love to hear from you. We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?cat=28"},"img":{"alt_text":"Music Video Addiction","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/music-video-addiction-gif.gif?fit=526%2C398&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/music-video-addiction-gif.gif?fit=526%2C398&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/music-video-addiction-gif.gif?fit=526%2C398&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42972,"url":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=42972","url_meta":{"origin":6624,"position":5},"title":"Imaad Wasif channels the haunting beauty of \u2018I See a Darkness\u2019 + Announces tour with Yeah Yeah Yeahs","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"June 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"There are songs that hit you hard the first time you hear them\u2014and then there\u2019s\u00a0I See a Darkness. For Imaad Wasif, this Bonnie \u2018Prince\u2019 Billy classic wasn\u2019t just a song\u2014it was a cosmic revelation. Now, decades after first hearing it as a wide-eyed 23-year-old, Wasif has released a stunning cover\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "guitar rock"","block_context":{"text":"guitar rock","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"Imaad Wasif press photo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_4780.jpeg?fit=1180%2C917&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_4780.jpeg?fit=1180%2C917&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_4780.jpeg?fit=1180%2C917&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_4780.jpeg?fit=1180%2C917&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_4780.jpeg?fit=1180%2C917&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6624"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16392,"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6624\/revisions\/16392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}