At first glance, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are not a particularly complex band. Their singer has a vocal range that consists of only two notes; a throaty roar and a high-pitched yelp, their guitarist churns out punk-inspired riff after punk-inspired riff, and their lack of a bass player keeps most of their songs melodically simple, out of pure necessity.

Yet, for some reason, there is more than what meets the eye with the band. It might have a little something to do with the ultra-cool New York vibe that the band oozes, with these guys you don't so much get a selection of songs as a chic art-punk branding, the band have always been unashamedly much more style than substance, and they milk it for all that they can.

Hence, "Is Is", a selection of "new" tracks that, depending upon which media source you listen to, were either recorded before "Show Your Bones" or after it. Either way, they don't have the polished, glossy production that dragged that album down, going instead down a much rawer road more reminiscent of their earlier EPs from before their first album.

Rockers To Swallow, which starts out with an insistent drum beat and some crunchy palm-muted guitar is an excellent start, with Karen O's vocals sounding gloriously messy and unkempt during the short lyrical phrases, and more precise and immediate during the echoed yelps that she strangles out between them. Down Boy, with its odd video that is finding a lot of airplay on the ABC here in Australia, is an exercise in contrast, the slow brooding verses with their ambient keyboard sounds in the background clash alarmingly with the noisy, guitar-as-percussion choruses, but somehow it all comes together quite wonderfully.

The last three songs here are similarly intriguing, Kiss Kiss plays more like a traditional punk/garage song, giving this EP its accessibility factor, and 10 x 10 sees one of Karen O's rare vocal chillouts, done to the accompaniment of a bouncy guitar riff that skittles and jumps all over the track.

Part of the appeal here is that whereas a few years ago the band would have probably have used all of these song ideas in short, blistering throwaway tracks, "Is Is" shows that they've learned how to pace themselves and make full songs out of their ideas, a sign that bodes very well for the future. "Is Is" only goes for eighteen minutes, but each of those minutes is employed to a very deliberate purpose, and the band shows on this EP that they can still make great music, and that hopefully, the overproduced "Show Your Bones" was just an aberration.