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Brooklyn boys Yeasayer have come a long way since their weirder than weird debut 'All Hour Cymbals' in October 2007. According to the eternal wisdom of Wikipedia, they described their music then as "Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel". With 'Odd Blood' they haven't lost any of the surreal influences or experimentally mental melodies and bolshy beats, but they sure as hell have become more easily accessible and more importantly danceable.
Tonight at Nottingham's Trent Uni, Yeasayer enter the stage to a lightshow that is in equal parts Hot Chip's technicolour bliss and some art student's degree show hoedown. Being frenetically greeted by a rather small crowd, Brooklynites Yeasayer launch straight into the atmospheric 'Madder Red' from 'Odd Blood', whose soaring harmonies and sing-along chorus make for the first highlight of the night. Most bands sound better on record than live. Yeasayer are the exception to this rule nailing every multi-harmonious note and every melody so perfectly it leaves the audience astounded and dancing happily. Next song, the cocky 'Rome' showcases what Yeasayer do best, which is mixing a plethora of elements that don't seem to go together on paper but strangely enough are in perfect harmony on stage. On 'Rome' their jumpy rhythm dances with a beautifully autontuned steel pan melody and Ira Wolf Tuton's muscly basslines. Singer Chris Keating croons "Rome is gonna be mine/ It's just a matter of time" and judging by tonight's performance not only Rome will be Yeasayer's soon.
You gotta admit that no single Yeasayer member is a proper frontman. You have the geeky one, the exotic one, the cool one and, errrr, the drummer, but together they form this incredibly strong unit, which acquires a dazzling amount of musical layers and textural depth in their songs, it's nothing short of amazing. Yeasayer's odd mix of prog, pop and the outright weird puts them somewhere between fellow Brooklynites TV On The Radio's outstandingly inventive arrangements, Justin Timberlake's 'Future Sex / Love Sounds' perfectly manufactured pop and Metronomy's deliriously dancey geek pop. Highlight of the night 'Wait For The Summer' wows the crowd with its triumphant build up and multi-vocal chanting that resembles a spiritual awakening. I certainly worship in the church of Yeasayer.
As Yeasayer unleash the heavenly 'One' and the equally euphorious single 'Ambling Alp' on the crowd tonight, Yeasayer's secret weapon, the flamboyant Anand Wilder steps to the front producing guitar riffs that veer between hair metal and reggae. Unconventional in attire and sound, Wilder champions Yeasayer's 'world-pop' in the most celebratory way. Keating, Tuton and Wilder surprise you, but more importantly, they also challenge you. Practically seamless in their live performance, the boys positively assault your ears with exoticism, radicalism and a mixture of influences that faultlessly signify today's modern multi-layered confusing world.
