Cool it Down, the fifth studio album from indie rock group Yeah Yeah Yeahs, is a disappointing and somewhat bland LP.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs blasted onto the indie scene in 2003 with their debut Fever to Tell. That record was a refreshing addition to the rock scene, which had grown repetitive and defective. The project brought exciting, raw vocals and instrumentation that harkened back to the punk scene of the ’70s and ’80s.

Almost all of that uniqueness is absent on Cool it Down.

The best example of this is lead single and opener “Spitting of the Edge of the World (featuring Perfume Genius).” The track isn’t bad per se, but it lacks the exciting elements that made their previous records great. 

The song is a slow, epic ballad, which simply doesn’t fit Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ style. It’s not like the collaboration with Perfume Genius isn’t intriguing, but it creates the style of music that would fit with the music he would create, not Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The group works best when they are using their over-the-top energy to entrance the listener – and it works less when listeners have time to breathe and think about their music.

That isn’t to say that the album doesn’t have any of the band’s classic style.

The single “Burning” brings the same atmosphere of a track from their 2009 album It’s Blitz!. The song does, however, sound a little bit too much like their most popular song, “Heads Will Roll,” from that mentioned album.

Tracks “Wolf” and “Fleez” also bring some of the same uninhibited spirit from the previous works – being more upbeat and fast-paced – even if they don’t quite live up to the quality of them.

Overall, though, Cool it Down doesn’t provide the same Yeah Yeah Yeahs ambiance that a listener would expect from an album of theirs.