Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Show Your Bones"

Alright, alright, I'm back. For real. The Lo Fi Life Project is officially back ON. We have a new President, the Inauguration was an unbelievable experience, and life is moving on. In many confusing ways, but moving on. I've been struggling to regain momentum for the Lo Fi Life Project, and never thought that a day of being grumpy would do the trick. But here I am.

I've been grumpy most of the day because I stayed up too late watching the Duke v. UNC game last night. Totally worth it, excellent game, and the right team one. But I'm paying for it. So this evening when I had to motivate to cook, I grabbed this Yeah Yeah Yeahs cd and literally threw it on. Oh man, chopping vegetables to this album was really perfect for my bad mood. It worked like a charm.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs rock. Literally. This is straight up rock, a full court press from start to finish, the intensity never lets up. It's also complex enough to keep things interesting. There are lots of inferences and straight up borrowings throughout, but they're pared down and spliced together in ways that just work. When I first heard the track "Phenomena," I couldn't quite remember where I knew the mantra "something like a phenomenon baby, something like a phenomenon" from, so I texted my sister, and she wrote back immediately: "De La Soul, duh." They throw all kinds of licks in there. And it works.

I've got a short list of bands I wish I'd already seen live, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are up near the top. I've heard that Karen O, the singer and frontwoman of the band, goes nuts on stage. It's not hard to imagine. The hard driving beats and catchy licks that switch up all over the place, and together come out strong and sexy, would lend themselves to a crazy show.

I'll admit that I have some bias toward this band, given that Karen O and drummer Brian Chase met at Oberlin in the late '90s. But that's not clouding my judgment here. At least I don't think so - tell me if you beg to differ. I'm amazed that they've only put out two full albums so far (the next one is supposed to come out this April), because I think they've already established their sound and presence so well. I'm keepin this whole album for sure, and I have a feeling it'll stand the test of time. It's definitely good for screaming along to while chopping onions in a grumpy mood. Let me know if you need a soundtrack for that kind of a day.