Fever to Tell

From release to release, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have grown considerably, moving from the arty yet anthemic garage punk of their self-titled EP to Machine's angular urgency. Fever to Tell, their first full-length and major-label debut, also shows growth, but for the first time the band doesn't sound completely in control of the proceedings. Their EPs were masterful studies in contrast and economy, balancing just the right amounts of noise, melody, chaos, and structure within 15 to 20 minutes. It's possible that the band needs the limits of an EP to give their music some boundaries; at 37 minutes, Fever to Tell manages to sound, at different times, scattered and monotonous. Most of this can be chalked up to poor sequencing -- the album opens with some of the raunchiest noise the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have ever recorded, then abruptly changes gears and delivers a kitchen sink's worth of pretty ballads and experimental pieces. Ironically enough, the sudden switch makes Fever to Tell feel more like two EPs' worth of songs slapped together than playing their actual EPs back to back does. Both the old and new sides of the band's sound offer brilliant and frustrating moments: "Rich," a sneering sugar-mommy story; "Black Tongue," which features the great lyric "let's do this like a prison break" and is almost Hasil Adkins-esque in its screwed-up sexuality and rockabilly licks; and "A Date With the Night," a rattling, screeching joy ride of a song, combine Karen O's unearthly vocals, Nick Zinner's ever-expanding guitar prowess, and Brian Chase's powerful drumming in familiar but fresh ways. Not so good are the insanely noisy but underdeveloped "Man" and "Tick," which have enough volume and attitude to make the Kills and Jon Spencer turn pale, but also sound like they're coasting on those qualities. Interestingly, the moody, romantic songs on Fever to Tell are the most genuine; before the its release, Karen O hinted that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' new material would reflect the fact that she fell in love prior to making the album. "Pin" and "Y Control" have great guitar lines and a unique, bittersweet bounciness, while the unabashedly gorgeous, sentimental "Maps" is not only among the band's finest work but one of the best indie/punk love songs in a long, long time. Along with "Modern Romance," a pretty but vaguely sinister meditation on the lack thereof, these songs compensate for some of Fever to Tell's missteps (such as "No No No," a lengthy, halting mishmash of punk and dubby experimentalism), although it's unfortunate that they all arrive at the end of the album. Perhaps they should've included some of their tried-and-tested songs from their EPs, but for a group as mercurial as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs that would probably be stagnation. Indeed, they've cranked out so many songs in such a short time that, despite being their debut, the album almost feels like a transitional release; they're already rethinking their sound in radical ways. Ultimately, Fever to Tell might be slightly disappointing, but it delivers slightly more than an EP's worth of good-to-great songs, proving that even when they're uneven, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are still an exciting band.