Fever to Tell

With the two e.p.s leading in, much of Fever to Tell is something of a letdown. Nick Zinner is still one of the greatest living guitar players, gracefully moving from raunchy garage riffs to more elegant sounds seemingly without effort. Karen O makes the most of her limited range and thin timbre through odd hiccups, wordless sounds, and a compelling use of repetition. The problems are the production, which foregoes the overdriven quality of the machine e.p., and the lack of creative songwriting when compared to the self-titled e.p. These keep Fever to Tell from being as good as it should be until the album's last third. For whatever reason, they lump all of the songs that aren't simply mid-paced trashy rock tunes at the end, and these exceptions easily outshine everything that comes before. Though ''Maps'' got the most attention, I like ''Y Control'' even better. It features the best guitar work Zinner has done, and sounds like nothing else you've heard without seeming the least bit contrived. The album is well worth the price for this track alone.