Once upon a time, Karen O had raw, grinding vocal power.

Yeah Yeah Yeah’s 2003 album Fever to Tell is one of the last standing examples of gritty, modern indie punk. The disc comes complete with distorted electric guitar, songs limited to fewer than 20 words (two of them being expletives), screeching vocals about sharp objects, a parental advisory label, and cover art featuring bloody daggers.

More than simple pure energy, the album provides a perfect balance between off-the-wall hyperactivity and solemn brooding. The buildup on the song “Maps” is an example of such style, although it has admittedly been somewhat tarnished by its popularity as a feature on the Rock Band video game.

Fever to Tell introduced listeners to Karen O: unapologetic energy, unexhausted talent, balanced melodrama, and raw femininity. These qualities, combined with Nick Zinner’s recognizably low guitar thrashing and drummer Brian Chase’s powerful drum beat, make Fever to Tell an unreproducable album worth revisiting.

Mnimalist track names such as “Pin,” “Tick,” and “Black Tongue” demonstrate that this album is to be cherished in a way unlike that of the band’s more flowery followers.

The chorus on the second track, “Date With the Night,” sends a compulsory shock to the hot-blooded that mandates stereo-cranking, full body shaking, or at least some serious steering-wheel drumming.

As suggested in the lyrics of “Man:” “We’re all gonna burn in hell / cuz we do what we gotta do real well / and we got the fever to tell.”

A revisit to this song in particular will make seasoned Yeah Yeah Yeahs listeners remember what drew them in the first place and jump up in resigned agreement.

— by Bri LaPelusa