Word: bandness
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...between art-school punk--the song Tick repeated the word tick an ear-curdling 49 times--and vulnerable pop exemplified by the hit Maps, in which O chased after a lover with the lyric "Wait/ They don't love you like I love you." As the rare avant-garde band willing to dip a black-painted toenail into the mainstream, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs attracted a small but protective following that many bands would kill for, but they weren't satisfied. "We don't want to preach to the converted," says O. "We want to be ourselves...
Complicating matters further is Karen O's status as a completely undeniable Jagger-Bowie-Blondie type of rock star. (In a corner of a Manhattan restaurant darker than a crypt, her spiky air makes her subject to countless gape-mouthed stares.) In the nurturing United Nations dynamic the band aspires to, O is the U.S., and when she moved to Los Angeles in 2004 and pushed to hire producer Sam (Squeak E. Clean) Spiegel, the brother of her then boyfriend, director Spike Jonze, Zinner and Chase reluctantly went along. The trio recalls the writing process--which did not go well...
...apparent joylessness that went into Show Your Bones is blessedly absent from the final product. Instead, the album sounds like a tight band making a small but confident pop move. The chorus of the first single, Gold Lion, has the catchy, repetitive meaninglessness of all good radio hits but is defined by the power of O's voice hooting in delight as it fades out. O's lyrics are intentionally vague--"Lyrics age poorly, especially if they're specific," she says--but she sings like an actress, with elastic trills and meaningful pauses, so there's a story...
...parable for the making of Show Your Bones? The new Yeah Yeah Yeahs' rumor is that they might break up. Their publicist swears it's not true, and here's hoping she's right. This band is just getting started...
Patent lawsuits have soared over the past decade, up about 58% since 1995. The patent office is drowning in filings; one recent application is for a napkin band printed with advertising. The office is getting known as an easy grader, awarding patents too leniently, to such things as basic medical tests and "business methods" like one-click online shopping. That stifles innovation and blocks new products from the market, according to some experts. "There's a consensus in academia and the legal world that the patent system is seriously out of balance and needs reform," says economist Carl Shapiro...