We didn't take these pictures. We borrowed them from the Kill Rock Stars website. They were not credited. This is Beth... ...and this is Nathan.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are not like you'd expect. You'd think the trio was a French pop throwback. Well, picture this: Karen O, the lead singer, came out wearing unzipped-to-her-hips 80s style jeans, black tank top, ankle-length white country girl boots and new wave glaucoma shades. Drummer Brian Chase wore a ripped-across-the-chest Black Flag t-shirt. And guitarist Nick Zinner looked like a young, petite Marc Chung in black dress shirt, tie and jeans and thrashed, spiky hair.

Karen O sings like a better early Gwen Stefani -- the one they play on VH1's Behind the Music on their struggle to the top, or a giddy punk Tanya Tucker strutting and dancing with new wave shake appeal.

The band's sound is more in the tradition of White Stripes' less Zep material, which in The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' case is much thicker and fluid and punk than De Stijl, and tinged with rock, country and rockabilly. That's not to say the band is above white noise and screaming. They're not.

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah."

The Rogers Sisters -- a female lead singer and guitarist, male bassist and female drummer -- played for far too long. Their stripped down, slow rockabilly surf was charming at first, but was ultimately a bit generic.

The band recently released their first single, and the female singer/guitarist announced the show was an "unofficial" record release party.

"Did you say you're single?" a guy shouted drunkenly from the audience.

"No, our single!" she said.

"Oh, you are single!!!" he replied. Idiot.

The band's songs give way to the requisite surf guitar solo/instrumental. The guitarist's singing is straight and high-pitched, while the bassist's vocals are rough and snottily punkish. Her stage presence is smooth and refined, his is more animated. The drummer is hard driving.

Two girls behind me, tall and tattooed with long straight blonde and raven hair -- and both "Williamsburg cool" -- stood with their arms folded across their chests scowled throughout the Rogers Sisters' set. I didn't understand until I, too, wanted them to stop and the Gossip to go on.

Then, some friends joined the Sisters onstage, playing tambourine, maracas, sticks, cowbells and a hand drum in a sort of '60s atmospheric lounge style, followed by the dirty, raw rock of their new single's B-Side, "Old Scratch." Redeemed, but not forgiven.

The Gossip's set was marred by technical difficulties and long periods of waiting. Nathan blew out his amp the previous night at the Knitting Factory, so tonight he borrowed three different amps. Half the crowd left at some point, but the dedicated fans stayed. Even their patience was tried by guitarist Nathan and drummer Kathy's tweaking of the amps and mics after every song. When they played, they played hard -- Nathan in full blues alt-rockstar mode, and Kathy, when you could hear her, a damn fine drummer.

At times, the show degenerated into a shouting match, and Beth goodnaturedly heckled back.

"Less talk, more rock!" someone shouted from the audience.

"Well, that would happen if we didn't have all those technical difficulties, fool!" Beth replied.

"You suck!" shouted an audience member.

"You suck my fat ass! You wanna come up here and try this?" Beth retorted.

When The Gossip finally started rockin' their dirty, guttural southern-bluesy garage punk, Beth screamed and sang and Nathan rocked and Kathy pounded -- but you couldn't hear Kathy, and Nathan wasn't happy with his amp. After the next song, Beth asked the audience if they could hear various instruments. Apparently it was fixed, then fucked up and fixed again. But even after everything was perfect, Nathan and Kathy were unnerved enough to futz with the equipment after every song.

If you were close enough to the stage, you could hear Beth and Nathan talking about whether the next song would be their last.

Beth continued to apologize to the impatient crowd and tried to make light of the situation. "So, Dance Party USA must go on. Even if we suck!"

"Whoaaa, Jeezus!" she screamed and launched into another song. The band was rockin' out, passionate. Beth, drenched in sweat, her barrette falling out of her hair, lifted her head, slapped her thigh, bam bam bam. Jumping, clapping, losing herself.

Their last song became an all-female chorus. "All I want is a revolution," she sang at the end of the show. "If you donšt want it, then you don't need it. But for those of us who do..."

"All I want is a revolution!" repeated a chorus of girls in the audience.

When the song ended, so did the show. Nathan's leaned his guitar against one of the problem amps, mumbled something inaudible into the mic, then dropped it on the ground and left. A woman from the audience grabbed the mic and leaned over the stage, asking them to do an encore.

Unbelievably, the trio came back out. The crowd's support rose tremendously despite the venue being half-empty. The Gossip played three more songs and left.

All in all, it wasn't a bad show, performance wise. It just wasn't seamless and fluid...and you had to have patience to find the gold.

Article by Trinity Canty.