Josh Haner/The New York Times Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs performing with the band at the South by Southwest Music Festival in March. The band’s new album, “Mosquito,†comes out later this month.On this week’s Popcast, Jon Pareles, the chief pop critic for The Times, talks to the host, Ben Ratliff, about two new albums by New York bands: the Strokes, formed in 1998, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, formed in 2000.
Both helped end a mysterious drought in the New York rock; the local rally never stopped. But as the scene and the city have evolved, both bands have had to wrestle with the question of how to expand and evolve from a deceptively simple baseline sound. The Strokes’ “Comedown Machine†filters ’80s light-pop references through hand-played weariness; the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Mosquito†builds dense, atmospheric sonic experiments into dance-punk.
“Every band should have a constant identity crisis,†says Mr. Pareles, “which is what both of these albums are.†That’s the good news.
For the rest of the story, listen above, download the MP3 here, or subscribe in iTunes.
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Lizzy Goodman on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the New York Times Magazine.
SPOTIFY PLAYLIST
Tracks by artists discussed this week. (Spotify users can also find it here.)
