My 10 Favorite Yeah Yeah Yeahs Songs, Ranked
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs were one of the most iconic U.S. indie-rock bands of the early aughts, alongside the White Stripes, The Strokes, and so many other NYC-hailing art rockers. In honor of lead vocalist (and rockmommy) Karen O’s birthday, here’s a list of my top ten favorite Yeah Yeah Yeahs songs.
#10: “Sacrilege” (Mosquito)
Segueing from a melodic stream of consciousness to a super-echo-heavy refrain of “in our bed,” the first single off the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ fourth full-length studio album is weirdly cool and experimental — which is saying a lot for a band that’s already weirdly cool and experimental. But it grows on me every time I hear it, especially the gospel-choir background vocals, which take me back to Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.”
#9: “Spitting Off The Edge of The World” (Cool it Down)
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ 2021 apocalyptic album Cool it Down came in the midst of the Covid pandemic, and feels rightly ahead of its time. Admittedly, too, I find some of the songs a little depressing, lacking the joviality of “Heads Will Roll” and earlier material. But Karen O and her bandmates wrote this record at a different point in their lives, as parents and world citizens facing a terrifying and uncertain future. This single, featuring guest artist Perfume Genius, is more deep than dreamy, with its dark melancholic tones. But it’s powerful and impactful, as great art always is.
[SEE RELATED: Rockmommy Karen O’s Apocalyptic Experiences Fuel a Dystopian Yeah Yeah Yeahs Comeback Record]
#8: “Fancy” (Show Your Bones)
There’s a dark, psychedelic quality that I love every time I hear this track, with its organs, super-distorted vocals, and screams tucked between verses. Though the song’s subject matter is as obscure as a lot of other YYY hits, “Fancy” is loaded with some of the coolest and most unpredictable turns, rises, and falls.
#7: “Maps” (Fever to Tell)
It’s lyrically a little obscure, but “Maps” — a kind of art-rock ballad with searing, post-chorus energy — is the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ most commercially successful hit to date. The song from their debut 2003 full-length album, Fever to Tell, is reportedly about the relationship between Liars frontman Angus Andrew and Karen O. It’s also, apparently, the inspiration for Kelly Clarkson‘s 2004 hit song “Since U Been Gone.”
Recently a sped-up version of the song hit gained popularity on TikTok in September 2024 and hit #1 on the Billboard TikTok chart.
#6: “Way Out” (Show Your Bones)
The brightness of “Way Out” is a nice juxtaposition against the darker “Fancy” on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ second album. It’s also one of my favorite songs to sing along to while driving down the highway.
#5: “Rich” (Fever to Tell)
Fever to Tell’s lead-off song is the most perfect album-opener ever written, with its memorable riff in the intro, effects-heavy vocals, and a big, sweeping chorus. And while Karen O. Gets the lion’s share of praise by critics, “Rich” truly showcases the abilities of guitarist Nick Zinner and drummer Brian Chase to kick into high gear and transform choruses into cataclysmic moments.
#4: “Down Boy” (Is Is)
The slow, high-hat tempo and Karen O’s clear vocals build to a cool rock groove in the most awesome track from the band’s Is Is EP. This song’s been a constant companion to dozens of car rides and workouts since I first heard it.
#3: “Heads Will Roll” (It’s Bliss)
Shouts of “Off with your head” ring out in this dance-rock hit, “dripping with alchemy” and buoyed by organs and attitude. “Heads Will Roll” builds its layers slowly, with dark, growling electric strings and synth beats, which trade air time with pretty, melodic one-string micro guitar meanderings. It’s possibly the greatest single off the band’s third full-length album, 2009’s It’s Bliss.
#2: “Black Tongue” (Fever to Tell)
The Year Yeah Yeahs’ “Black Tongue,” is the first single by the band I ever heard, courtesy of a mix tape a friend of a friend made me in 2003. Opening on a fast-paced strum, interspersed with Karen O’s yelps and “uh huhs,” the lo-fi, effects-heavy “Black Tongue” stood out from pretty much every other alt-radio song in its time.
#1: “Gold Lion” (Show Your Bones)
I love everything about this song, from the pretty acoustic guitars in the intro, when Karen O promises, “Gold Lion’s gonna tell me where the light is,” through the searing final chorus. It’s swaggering, sexy, full of big lifts and light falls, swirling guitars and vocal accents. It’s just brilliant.
