Is Is [EP]

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 24, 2007)
• Original Release Date: July 24, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: EP
• Label: Fontana Interscope
• ASIN: B000R7I3FA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #40,558 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

At a mere 17 minutes, Is Is packages Yeah Yeah Yeahs' decibel-heavy mood swings in an ideal serving size. Written primarily between the band's debut full-length, 2003's Fever to Tell, and the 2006 follow-up, Show Your Bones, the five songs here boast the best of YYY's pounding bravado, lyrical raunchiness, and–-yes–-sometime vulnerability. Like PJ Harvey fronting Liars ("Rockers to Swallow"), or the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde sitting in on a White Stripes session ("Isis"), singer Karen O moves from the sonic blitzkrieg of "Kiss Kiss" to the almost tender verses of "Down Boy" with elastic facility. Guitarist Nick Zinner and drummer Brian Chase remain the serviceable, occasionally inspired rhythm section they've always been, but as usual, Yeah Yeah Yeahs could be called "The Karen O Show," and no one would know the difference. Released at a stage in YYY's career when many young, ubiquitously hyped bands round the bend and head for obscurity, Is Is signals a drum-tight trio standing on the cusp of lasting stardom. --Jason Kirk

Product Description

2007 EP from the New York Post-Post-Punk trio featuring five 'new' studio tracks! This EP was recorded in a whirlwind one day in New York and features songs written on the road while they toured Fever To Tell. Three of these blistering tracks previously appeared on their live DVD Tell Me What Rockers To Swallow but this is the first time any of them have been recorded in a studio. Five tracks: 'Rockers To Swallow', 'Down Boy', 'Kiss Kiss', 'Isis' and '10x10'. Dress Up.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bridge from Fever to Tell to Show Your Bones, October 16, 2007

By	Zombie! "themongoose" (San Diego, California) - See all my reviews

This EP is fantastic and totally worth your time and money. It captures the raw live energy of the band and oozes awesomeness. More tribal and primative than Show Your Bones, but more glossy than Fever to Tell, this EP is a perfect place even for a new fan to start their love for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, say... if they don't want to shell out for a full album.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Into my life..., August 23, 2007

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

If you want to be strict about it, "Is Is" is not new material.

It was originally recorded waaaayyyyy back when the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were touring their debut album "Fever to Tell" for the very first time. So it's got the freshness of new material, with the gusto of their frenetic frenetic post-punk here -- it feels like you're going on a nighttime rampage with these guys.

It opens with the thumping intro of "Rockers to Swallow," a volcanic punk ode that seethes with screaming, roaring riffs and smashing drums. "Tell me we're rockers to swallow/Tell me we're knockers to bite/And out of the beats of tomorrow/Tell me what beat fills the night!" Karen O shouts in her raw voice.

It sounds like a a night out at a really dirty, crazy club, which makes "Down Boy" -- all grimy riffs and trembly keyboard -- sound like a breather. They extend their sound further with the driving rock'n'roll anthem "Kiss Kiss", which seems to be about a threesome ("We're three we're three in the dark tonight/And baby my snake is a shark tonight").

And finally "Is Is" winds up with two very dissimilar songs. First it's "Isis," a stately confection of ringing riffs and pulse-like percussion -- it's a good song, but it only breaks loose at the very end. And it finishes with "10x10," a blazing rocker with bubbling electronic edges.

"Is Is" was apparently recorded during a very tough, emotionally turbulent period in the band's history, back before they proved that they were here to stay. Maybe it's because they were touring, but "Is Is" sounds like a wild'n'crazy night out -- drugs, sex, fast driving and maybe smashing somebody with a guitar.

Most of the instrumentation is simple, even if the melodies aren't -- Nick Zinner sets the tone with guitars that twist, screech, loop on themselves, and smash ahead like a thunderstorm, while Brian Chase does some really dazzling jazzy drums as well as his usual smashing ones. A could songs even have some trembling, shivering keyboard.

In this EP, Karen O is... Karen O. What can I say? She has a voice that can scream raw howls at you, then turn into a torchy croon ("Down... down, boy, down!"). And she can sing the songs about dismembered lovers, seaslines and "rockers to swallow" with the rage or pensiveness they require, but always with gusto ("10 X 10, 3 X 3/Was the house that buried me/Did I really drown?").

"Is Is" is a richly rambunctious nugget of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' solid post-punk, and it's about time we finally got to hear these great little songs. Definitely worth getting.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great older songs, finally recorded., July 24, 2007

By	Will Blandin (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The songs on this EP were written during the Fever to tell tour and often tested at many of those shows. Having had a rough, early demo version of "Down Boy" for some time now, it was great to hear a polished, finalized version of it on this EP. The sound here seems to be somewhere between Fever to tell and Show Your Bones. Zinner is a throwback to what was great about indy music in the 80's and early 90's. His style is so unique and original I often wonder just how these guys are making it in the mainstream. Seems a band this good usually wouldn't last in today's constantly changing face of what's "hip". But they're doing it quite nicely and deliver the goods on this 5 song EP. Show Your Bones easily brushed off the curse of the sophomore slump, and once again, the band shows no signs of slowing down on this release either.