Are The Yeah Yeah Yeahs Teasing A Comeback Record?

It’s been four long years since the Yeah Yeah Yeahs last brought their sweaty brand of danceable art-punk to our ears in Mosquito. Since then YYYs fans have had to hold themselves together in whatever ways they can. Be that drunken karaoke renditions of “Y Control,” considering knocking the dust off of a long-forgotten copy of Rock Band, or even admitting that “Sacrilege” kind-of rules. Dark times, indeed.

But it looks like Karen O. and her merry band of art starrrs are about to mount a comeback and drop a new album. It’s a bit of a leap, but the idea that the hyper-cool NYC act might be working on new music stems from two things: a tweet and font size.

First, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs sent out a tweet about their first gig in forever, a headlining slot at Austin’s Sound on Sound Fest. Not anything odd about that on its face but the promise of “more news coming soon” at the end is enough to give anyone between the ages of 25 and 37 anticipatory sweats.

Perhaps the most convincing case for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs dropping new music is their placement on the bill. They’re the headliner, 100 percent at the top on a line of their own. Not to say they don’t deserve it, they absolutely do. But even during their It’s Blitz!-era height of popularity, they were still snagging headlining slots on technicalities — like when they subbed in for the Beastie Boys at Lollapalooza 2009. And they are placed well ahead of artists who are touring behind new releases like Real Estate, Vince Staples and The Shins. Placing them so high four years from their last release seems like an interesting choice unless we’re about to get a blast of new music from the band.

Is this overthinking it? Absolutely. But what are festival posters for if not arguments and wild speculation?