Remember those kids from high school who took "art" and "band," wore dark clothes, wanted people to think they were suicidal without actually being suicidal, and looked like younger, thinner versions of Robert Smith? Well, they have a band. They're called The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs. And, unlike high school, everything about them is now cool.

They have a cool name that gives props to rock's most copied lyric. They have no bass player, which, given the success of the White Stripes (they are sans bass player) and the demise of Ned's Atomic Dustbin (they had multiple bass players), seems cool these days. And they have a cool new album with a cool title, Show Your Bones (buy it from FlynnFiles), and cool cover art supplied from the winner of a mail-in fan contest. In fact, the entire album is decorated with graphics supplied by their fans.

But the coolest thing about the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs is the music. And it has to be, given that in the MTV/looks-obsessed age, they still made it despite looking like this (a thousand apologies). A la Nirvana and the Pixies, they have the soft-loud-soft thing down. If you remember their breakthrough single, "Maps," from a few years back, then you know what I'm talking about. Show Your Bones is more polished than the charmingly raw Fever to Tell (buy it here). There are occasional keyboards thrown in and singer Karen O must have spent multiple takes perfecting the vocals to rock imperfection. But it is still loud, and leaves the listener to wonder how all that sound came from one guitarist, an amazing drummer, and a girl's voice. Show Your Bones is 39 minutes of awesome.

"Maps" is a tough song to follow-up, but the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs have a song of the year candidate in "Cheated Hearts," which seems to be about adultery, or threesomes, or both. The music builds, appropriately, as Karen O sings: "Well I'm taka-taka-taka-taka-takin' it off/And she's taka-taka-taka-taka-takin' it off/And he's taka-taka-taka-taka-takin' it off/And we're taka-taka-taka-taka-takin' it off." A sonic explosion follows in which Karen O declares: "Sometimes I think I'm bigger than the sound." The song hits the radio as a single shortly. Other standouts include "Dudley," the quirky, rollicking, and infectious "Mysteries," and the closing "Turn Into." Are you downloading yet?