Fever to Tell

1	Rich 3:36
2	Date With the Night 2:35
3	Man 1:49
4	Tick 1:49
5	Black Tongue 2:59
6	Pin 2:00
7	Cold Light 2:16
8	No No No 5:14
9	Maps 3:39
10	Y Control 4:00
11	Modern Romance 7:28

Barnes & Noble

One of the more compelling bands to emerge from New York City in a long, long time, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an angular garage-rock trio with a definite locus to their sound: singer Karen O. Much like a post-postmodern Marie Osmond, she's a contradictory girl -- she's a little bit new wave, suggesting the sass of Debbie Harry, and a little bit screaming harridan, evoking the angst of PJ Harvey -- and that dichotomy is what drives the band's intense, often harrowing sound. They approach their music with a stripped-down fury that's psychically similar to the White Stripes -- in that Fever to Tell is a bass-free zone -- but aesthetically much closer to the rowdier post-punk acts of the late '70s. The trio are at their best when all three simply let it rip, as on the ricocheting "Tick" and the stammering, stomping "No No No." Midway through the more overdriven numbers, it can seem as if everything's set to fall apart -- but even when O lapses into apoplectic near-gibberish, as she does on the manic "Black Tongue," a few jolts from Brian Chase's snare drum assert an order that borders on the Ramones-esque. While not quite as potent when navigating more placid territory, such as the droning "Modern Romance," the Yeah Yeah Yeahs nearly always leave a room -- and a head of hair -- more disheveled and sweat-soaked than before their arrival. And that's most assuredly a good thing. David Sprague

All Music Guide

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. Heather Phares

New York Times

"Fever to Tell" is a revelation: a reminder that one of the most entertaining rock 'n' roll bands around is also one of the most inventive. Kelefa Sanneh

Entertainment Weekly

[Karen] O howls and growls her way through 37 minutes of art-school punk with enough strapped-on swagger to make Mick Jagger blush. (B) Josh Tyrangiel