Released on 04/11/2002
Label: Wichita

Somewhere between The Strokes and The White Stripes exists the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a band so tailor-made to stimulate a passing urge amongst music journalists stuck between the release of the last garage rock record and the arrival of the next, that you'd think they were the product of some cynical TV talent show. Garage Idol: Jack White's Mates Edition, say.

They're pretty good, of course. Their musical gift is a drummer that can play like a cross between Dave Grohl and Elvin Jones. Their gift to journalists is a singer that oozes NOW from every style-conscious pore, the impeccably fuzzed up Karen O.

Like buddies The White Stripes, they make a tremendous noise with the help of just a guitar and a deceptively small drum kit - not for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs the Tommy Lee set-up. 'Machine' is hardly going to see them headlining Reading next year but it gives you a sense of what fun they are onstage.

    by James Poletti