Yeah Yeah Yeahs Biography

Yeah Yeah Yeahs are a New York City-based rock band. The band members include lead singer Karen O, drummer Brian Chase, and guitarist Nick Zinner. Their music is a mix of retro styles with heavy rock/punk guitars, synthetic sounds and rhythmic, and melodic and bluesy vocals. They formed in 2000 as a trio, and were joined by second guitarist Imaad Wasif in 2006 for touring purposes.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs' debut release was a self-titled EP, released in 2001. They followed it with another EP, Machine, in 2002.

In 2003, the band released their first complete album, Fever to Tell, which received several strong critical reviews and sold more than 750,000 copies worldwide. The album's third single, "Maps", received significant airplay on alternative radio. The video for their 2004 single "Y Control" was directed by acclaimed director Spike Jonze, who was involved with the band's lead singer Karen O for a period. In October 2004, the band released their first DVD, Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow. The DVD included a concert filmed at The Fillmore in San Francisco, all of the band's music videos to date, and various interviews.

Their second album, Show Your Bones, was released on March 27/28, 2006. The album's producer, Sam "Squeak E. Clean" Spiegel – who had previously collaborated with Karen O on the song "Hello Tomorrow" for an Adidas commercial directed by Sam's brother (and Karen's then-boyfriend), Jonze – told MTV News that the album was a concept album about Karen's cat, and would be titled Coco Beware. However, MTV was forced to retract the story, noting that Spiegel had failed to mention that he was joking. Karen O told online zine Drowned in Sound, "Show Your Bones is what happens when you put your finger in a light socket," crediting "9 year old antigenius wonder-kid Drake Barrett for the insight."[1] The first single from the album, "Gold Lion", was released on March 20th, 2006, reaching 18 in the Official UK Singles Chart. It has been noted by several listeners that "Gold Lion" sounds startingly similar to "No New Tale To Tell" from 1980's alternative favorites Love & Rockets.[2] Karen is noted for her unique look thanks to friend and costume designer Christian Joy. The band toured throughout Europe and the United States during much of 2006.