Yeasayer: Just Say Nay

Our resident indiephilosopher takes a good hard look (listen) to the Brooklyn buzzband's sophomore effort and doesn't exactly like what she finds. International tour starts today; dates listed below.

BY JENNIFER KELLY

Yeasayer, naysayer... this album blows.

Yeasayer, the Brooklyn ethno-trance-dance celebrants, caught a wave set in motion by Animal Collective in 2007, releasing All Hour Cymbals to unequivocal praise. MTV called them "One of Seven Bands at SXSW That Matter."  Pitchfork gave them a 7.8. Entourage ran "Sunrise" over its closing credits. Beck offered an opening slot. And all this for an album released on tiny We Are Free label.

Odd Blood, the second album, looks to be the band's bid for a commercial killing, released on a bigger label (Secretly Canadian) with simpler, more accessible songs and far, far cleaner production. But unfortunately, clarity is not working in Yeasayer's favor. Getting a good listen to Odd Blood is the music world's version of waking up in bed with someone who is not as good looking as you thought, not good looking at all in fact, and possibly not even of the opposite sex. What were you thinking?

The disc starts out okay, with the clank and distortion of "The Children," a mic-altered thread of narrative running through African polyrhythms and vast synthetic spaces. It's the fuzziest, foggiest, hardest-to-hear of all these tracks and also one of the most bearable.  When you clean this stuff up, there's not much to look at. Early single "Amblin' Alp" has been scrubbed and disinfected to within an inch of its life, and maybe beyond. "You must stick up for yourself, son, never mind what anybody else done," sings Chris Keating, celebrating individuality in a track that is, ironically, almost entirely devoid of personality or soul.

It gets worse with the two "ONE" cuts that straddle the middle of the album. They're the kind of faux funky, disco sterilities that you might mostly associate with bands that dress in uniforms and have cute hair and get covered in Tigerbeat. It's a break-up song performed in the kind of smarmy, self-absorbed tenor that goes down well with tweener girls, embellished at intervals with sugary R&B pop falsettos. And damn, you get through it once and there it is again, in a remixed version that is just as false and inhuman as the first.

You have to wonder whether Yeasayer thought that this kind of vacuum-sterile production and asexual white boy funk actually sounded good or just might increase their changes for mass success. (Either way, how depressing!)  If you ever wondered what it would sound like if Phil Collins brought in the Back Street Boys for a song on the Tarzan soundtrack, here's your answer. Not good, my friends, not good.

TOUR DATES:

Feb 8 2010      8:00P
    Bowery Ballroom    New York, New York
Feb 9 2010     8:00P
    Music Hall of Williamsburg    Brooklyn, New York
Feb 16 2010     8:00P
    Academy 2    Birmingham
Feb 17 2010     8:00P
    Oran Mor    Glasgow
Feb 19 2010     8:00P
    Academy    Dublin
Feb 20 2010     8:00P
    Speakeasy    Belfast
Feb 21 2010     8:00P
    Academy 3    Manchester
Feb 22 2010     8:00P
    The Faversham    Leeds
Feb 23 2010     8:00P
    Heaven (NME Show)    London
Feb 25 2010     8:00P
    Thekla    Bristol
Feb 26 2010     8:00P
    Digital    Brighton
Feb 28 2010     8:00P
    Luxor    Koln
Mar 1 2010     8:00P
    Trix Club    Antwerp
Mar 4 2010     8:00P
    KB    Malmo
Mar 5 2010     8:00P
    Debaser    Stockholm
Mar 6 2010     8:00P
    Rockerfeller    Oslo
Mar 8 2010     8:00P
    Vega Small Hall    Copenhagen
Mar 9 2010     8:00P
    Knust    Hamburg
Mar 10 2010     8:00P
    Postbahnhof    Berlin
Mar 11 2010     8:00P
    59/1    Munich
Mar 12 2010     8:00P
    Zukunft    Zurich
Mar 13 2010     8:00P
    Circolo Degli Artisti    Rome
Mar 15 2010     8:00P
    Tunnel    Milan
Mar 17 2010     8:00P
    Moby Dick    Madrid
Mar 19 2010     8:00P
    Point FMR    Paris
Mar 20 2010     8:00P
    Paradiso    Amsterdam
Apr 3 2010     8:00P
    9:30 Club    Washington, Washington DC
Apr 4 2010     8:00P
    Cat's Cradle    Carrboro, North Carolina
Apr 5 2010     8:00P
    Orange Peel    Asheville, North Carolina
Apr 6 2010     8:00P
    Masquerade    Atlanta, Georgia
Apr 7 2010     8:00P
    Hi Tone Cafe    Memphis, Tennessee
Apr 8 2010     8:00P
    Granada Theatre    Dallas, Texas
Apr 9 2010     8:00P
    House of Blues Houston    Houston, Texas
Apr 10 2010     8:00P
    The Parish    Austin, Texas
Apr 11 2010     8:00P
    The Parish    Austin, Texas
Apr 13 2010     8:00P
    The Crowley Theatre    Marfa, Texas
Apr 14 2010     8:00P
    Club Congress    Tucson, Arizona
Apr 15 2010     8:00P
    Rhythm Room    Phoenix, Arizona
Apr 17 2010     8:00P
    The Fillmore Auditorium    San Francisco, California
Apr 19 2010     8:00P
    Wonder Ballroom    Portland, Oregon
Apr 20 2010     8:00P
    Neumos    Seattle, Washington
Apr 21 2010     8:00P
    Commodore Ballroom    Vancouver, British Columbia
Apr 23 2010     8:00P
    In The Venue    Salt Lake City, Utah
Apr 24 2010     8:00P
    Bluebird Theatre    Denver, Colorado
Apr 25 2010     8:00P
    Waiting Room    Omaha, Nebraska
Apr 26 2010     8:00P
    Gargoyle Club    Saint Louis, Missouri
Apr 27 2010     8:00P
    First Avenue    Minneapolis, Minnesota
Apr 28 2010     8:00P
    Majestic Theatre    Madison, Wisconsin
Apr 29 2010     8:00P
    Metro    Chicago, Illinois
Apr 30 2010     8:00P
    Grog Shop    Cleveland, Ohio
May 1 2010     8:00P
    Lee's Palace    Toronto, Ontario
May 2 2010     8:00P
    La Sala Rossa    Montreal, Quebec
May 3 2010     8:00P
    Paradise    Boston, Massachusetts
May 4 2010     8:00P
    Webster Hall    New York, New York
May 5 2010     8:00P
    The Trocadero    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania