Show Your Bones

About

About two years before the Yeah Yeah Yeahs made their second album, 2006’s <i>Show Your Bones</i>, Karen O fell off a stage in Sydney, Australia, and injured her back so badly she ended up in a wheelchair. Her performances had always been physical—commanding the stage wa, in her way, a seizure of feminine power from the tyranny of punk rock’s boys’ club. But the injury forced a reckoning: How can artists known for self-destruction survive their own act? And why would any creative person want to do things the way they’d done them before? <i>Show Your Bones</i> was decidedly different from 2003’s <i>Fever to Tell</i>: The sound is softer and harder to place; passionate but not so confrontational. There’s enough stomp there to qualify it as garage-adjacent (“Honeybear,” “Mysteries”), but the music is leavened by a sense of poeticism (“Gold lion's gonna tell me where the light is”) that makes it feel personal, even a little mystical. Where the band’s self-titled 2001 debut EP and <i>Fever to Tell</i> capture a force exploding outward, <i>Show Your Bones</i> captures a force turning inward, exploring vulnerability while cultivating personal strength. The band’s video for “Cheated Hearts”—collaged together from clips of fans imitating the band in their bedroom, basement, and bathrooms—isn’t just a clever solution for a promotional exercise, it’s a metaphor for the album’s spirit: rocking out, but in the warmth and safety of your room. .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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