Yeah Yeah Yeahs (EP)

In 2000, singer/songwriter Karen Orzolek—later becoming known as Karen O—and guitarist Nick Zinner founded the acoustic duo Unitard. Later that year, they changed their name to Yeah Yeah Yeahs and shifted to a "trashy, punky, [and] grimy" sound inspired by their observations of the contemporary Ohio music scene.^[1][2] In September 2000, they added drummer Brian Chase to the lineup and played their first show as an opening act for the White Stripes.^[3][4]

By late 2001, Yeah Yeah Yeahs gained a following for their live shows.^[5][6] Around this time, they enlisted Jerry Teel, a former guitarist for the punk rock band Boss Hog, to co-produce their debut EP.^[7] They recorded it at the short-lived Funhouse Recording Studio with Teel, while Chuck Scott mastered it at Soundoptik in New York City.^[8] Although it is self-titled, the EP is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Master due to the necklace Karen O wears on the cover.^[7]

"Bang"

Sample from "Bang", the EP's opening track

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Yeah Yeah Yeahs is a garage rock,^[9] indie rock,^[7] and alternative rock EP.^[10] It consists of five tracks and runs for 13 minutes and 52 seconds.^[7][8] The songs were written by Karen O, whose staccato vocals became a focal point of the record,^[11] and its music was composed by the band.^[12] The rock band ESG served as a primary influence, with the band attempting to recreate their sound "with guitar instead of bass."^[13] Other influences include the rock bands Blondie, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and Tommy James and the Shondells.^[14]

The opening track, "Bang", is about Karen O's sexual dissatisfaction with an ex-boyfriend,^[15] emphasized by the repeated lyric "As a fuck, son, you sucked!"^[7] Themes of sex and masturbation are further developed in "Mystery Girl", co-written by the band and Jack Martin.^[16] "Art Star" satirizes jet-set culture and features a spoken word introduction and screaming vocals, elements that distinguish it from the band's later releases.^[17] "Miles Away" was described as the record's most "ferocious" and "grinding garage" song.^[18][9] The closing track, "Our Time", is an inspirational anthem about perseverance,^[11][19] which later came to inspire New Yorkers after the September 11 attacks.^[19][20]

Yeah Yeah Yeahs was self-released by the band on July 9, 2001 through their own label, Shifty.^[8] It was reissued in April 2002 by Touch and Go Records in the United States and Wichita Recordings in the United Kingdom, becoming a sleeper hit.^[7][18] It reached number one on the UK Indie Chart,^[21] number nine on the ARIA Heatseekers Chart,^[22] number seven on the Tracklisten's Denmark Singles Chart,^[23] and number 56 on the Swedish Singles Chart.^[24] By 2009, it was reported to have sold over 71,000 copies in the United States.^[25] In April 2010, a batch of limited-edition copies were reissued through Wichita to celebrate the label's 10th anniversary.^[18]

More information Aggregate scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	73/100[26]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[27]
Blender	[28]
Pitchfork	[29]
Rolling Stone	[16]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[20]
Stylus	C+[30]

Close

Yeah Yeah Yeahs was received positively by music critics.^[7] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the EP received an average score of 73, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[26] Heather Phares of AllMusic believed it cemented the band as "the artiest and most challenging" group in the 2000s garage rock revival.^[27] Blender's Rob Kemp said it made Karen O the most exciting rock star of the time,^[28] and Antonio Santangelo from CMJ similarly agreed that she sounded "hot and sexy".^[14] Everett True became infatuated with the record and the band, believing they captured the spirit of rock n' roll.^[11] Though Chris Dahlen from Pitchfork mocked the general rock movement, he was satisfied with the EP and said it demonstrated a "sharp survey" of the band's capabilities.^[29] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone took issue with its sound quality and felt it dampened its potential.^[16] Stylus's Kurt Deschermeier praised the first and third tracks but felt the other songs were unremarkable.^[30]

In 2002, NME ranked Yeah Yeah Yeahs second on their list of that year's best singles.^[31] In the 2004 edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide, Sasha Frere-Jones rated the EP four stars and stated that the band "instantly made their case for good-old-fashioned attitude". This scored higher than their acclaimed debut album, Fever to Tell.^[20] In 2024, writers at Paste ranked it at number 42 on their list of the "100 Greatest EPs of All Time", believing it succeeded the early works of the Strokes and Interpol, two of their contemporaries.^[19]

All tracks written by Yeah Yeah Yeahs except "Mystery Girl", written by Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Jack Martin.

All personnel credits adapted from Yeah Yeah Yeahs's liner notes.^[8]