It’s takes no great leap in logic to say that the longer an established artist waits to release an album, the more the anticipation from the fan base grows. Pressure is on to achieve a delicate balance between what made you successful while still growing as an artist, remaining relevant to the fickle masses. Do you shed your Oops I did it again image to become a Womanizer, or can you have it both ways, being not a girl and not yet a woman?

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs got it wrong…. on their sophomore album. Show Your Bones was squeaky-clean when we wanted at least some of the fuck-me, balls out raw tracks of Fever to Tell. The range between Rich and Maps showed a depth that was sorely missing on the following album. Granted, there were some perfect pop songs (Cheated Hearts, Gold Lion), but the whole album generally left a feeling of “huh?” lumped at the bottom of your throat.

For this reason, I approached It’s Blitz! with some apprehension, keeping my still tender feelings well guarded after the prior disappointment. That Karen O’s lyrics were going to be nonsensical and disjointed with the occasional mind-blowing line, was a given. Suspicions were confirmed with the opening line of Zero – what exactly is a “latitude sun” and does it shake? Maybe its just Karen being madman on the run again.

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