Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz! [INTERSCOPE]

Why you'll love it

This Interscope pressing comes on 180g vinyl. It's Blitz! was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2010 Grammys, and Spin called it "the alternative pop album of the decade."

This edition

• 180g vinyl
• Interscope edition (cat# B0012735-01)

About the album

Nick Zinner packed a vintage ARP synthesizer for the trip to the studio in Tornillo, out in the West Texas desert, mostly to keep himself amused between takes. It ended up as the defining sound of It's Blitz!, turning the scrappy New York garage trio into a band that could fill a dance floor without losing an ounce of nerve. Co-producer Nick Launay noted how much of the record was written right there in the studio.

Producers Nick Launay and TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek built much of it in the studio: Brian Chase played drum patterns that got chopped into loops, Zinner jammed over them, and Karen O found the melodies. "Zero" is a glittering opener, "Heads Will Roll" became a club staple, "Skeletons" is a slow, aching beauty, and "Soft Shock" and "Hysteric" show off the band's softer side.

The Guardian heard a debt to Eat to the Beat era Blondie, and it's still the record people reach for when they want the band at their most open-hearted. All that from a synth brought along for the downtime, which makes a strong case for packing the travel Scrabble.

Also at Kops: more Yeah Yeah Yeahs on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Interscope (cat# B0012735-01), the 2009 album.