Yeah Yeah Yeahs已有相当大的进步——从他们同名EP那附庸风雅却又美妙的垃圾朋克，一直到Machine中直逼人心的紧迫感。《Fever to Tell》是乐队的第一张专辑（也是张标有Parental Advisory的专辑），乐队在专辑中的表现也同样显示他们的不断成长，但也显示这个组合开始不再完全拥有他们过去的一些特点。在时间利用效率上，他们的EP会是很好体现差异的范例，在乐队从前发行的EP中，噪音、旋律、混沌以及歌曲的总体结构所占的份额都在这个15到20分钟里安排得相当平衡。似乎乐队需要一张EP的时间限制来给他们的专辑限制界限——或许37分钟，因为《Fever to Tell》确实在几个不同的时段里听起来有点散漫而单调。这个问题主要是归结于差劲的专辑排序——乐队以他们所能录制出的最粗鲁最狂暴的声音作为专辑开篇，却又一下子转变成没完没了的实验以及优美的民谣作品——嘲讽的是，这种突然的转变就象这张专辑是他们有意把两张EP硬生生的拼起来的一样。乐队无论是崭新的一面还是延续以前的一面，都有非凡卓越——也有令人沮丧的时刻。 　　 　　《Fever to Tell》的不足之处（象No No No，听起来冗长又罗嗦的一首朋克单曲，还捎加实验元素，不过这种实验音乐听起来有点笨拙。）也许他们应该从以前EP里拿来一些尝试过又获得成功的单曲，但这么做对于象Yeah Yeah Yeahs这种机敏善变的乐队来说无疑会让他们陷入停滞。事实上，他们在如此之短的时间内能够炮制出那么多的歌——尽管这只是他们的处女作——这张专辑听上去好象乐队正处于转型期；Yeah Yeah Yeahs也已经从根本上去重新思考他们音乐的发展。总而言之，《Fever to Tell》可能会让你觉得有些失望，但和EP中的好歌对于乐队成长的影响比起，专辑会显得更有价值，而这张专辑也无不证明就算Yeah Yeah Yeahs的音乐处于摇摆不定的阶段，但他们仍是一支令人激动的乐队。  　　From release to release, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have grown considerably, moving from the arty yet anthemic garage punk of their self-titled EP to Machine's angular urgency. Fever to Tell, their first full-length and major-label debut, also shows growth, but for the first time the band doesn't sound completely in control of the proceedings. Their EPs were masterful studies in contrast and economy, balancing just the right amounts of noise, melody, chaos, and structure within 15 to 20 minutes. It's possible that the band needs the limits of an EP to give their music some boundaries; at 37 minutes, Fever to Tell manages to sound, at different times, scattered and monotonous. Most of this can be chalked up to poor sequencing -- the album opens with some of the raunchiest noise the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have ever recorded, then abruptly changes gears and delivers a kitchen sink's worth of pretty ballads and experimental pieces. Ironically enough, the sudden switch makes Fever to Tell feel more like two EPs' worth of songs slapped together than playing their actual EPs back to back does. Both the old and new sides of the band's sound offer brilliant and frustrating moments: "Rich," a sneering sugar-mommy story; "Black Tongue," which features the great lyric "let's do this like a prison break" and is almost Hasil Adkins-esque in its screwed-up sexuality and rockabilly licks; and "A Date With the Night," a rattling, screeching joy ride of a song, combine Karen O's unearthly vocals, Nick Zinner's ever-expanding guitar prowess, and Brian Chase's powerful drumming in familiar but fresh ways. Not so good are the insanely noisy but underdeveloped "Man" and "Tick," which have enough volume and attitude to make the Kills and Jon Spencer turn pale, but also sound like they're coasting on those qualities. Interestingly, the moody, romantic songs on Fever to Tell are the most genuine; before the its release, Karen O hinted that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' new material would reflect the fact that she fell in love prior to making the album. "Pin" and "Y Control" have great guitar lines and a unique, bittersweet bounciness, while the unabashedly gorgeous, sentimental "Maps" is not only among the band's finest work but one of the best indie/punk love songs in a long, long time. Along with "Modern Romance," a pretty but vaguely sinister meditation on the lack thereof, these songs compensate for some of Fever to Tell's missteps (such as "No No No," a lengthy, halting mishmash of punk and dubby experimentalism), although it's unfortunate that they all arrive at the end of the album. Perhaps they should've included some of their tried-and-tested songs from their EPs, but for a group as mercurial as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs that would probably be stagnation. Indeed, they've cranked out so many songs in such a short time that, despite being their debut, the album almost feels like a transitional release; they're already rethinking their sound in radical ways. Ultimately, Fever to Tell might be slightly disappointing, but it delivers slightly more than an EP's worth of good-to-great songs, proving that even when they're uneven, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are still an exciting band.