Taking sides: Punchy vs Slinky

Is it faint praise when I say that the new Yeah Yeah Yeah's single reminds me of a lot of things I've heard before? While the little I've heard of Show Your Bones suggests that I'm going to dredge the sophomore-slump cliche one more time, "Gold Lion" is punchy enough to force me to rue the day I dismissed the YYY's as one more eyeliner-sportin' act enfeebled by post-punk envy.

In this week's singles roundup, neither the YYY's, Kanye trying his damndest to reignite interest in his fading album, Coldplay manque, nor sincere Aussie Keith Urban approach the grace of Amadou and Mariam, who can assemble a groove with less sweat than Karen O can yelp.