The year is 2003. I am a junior in high school, obsessed with the buzzy garage rock revival scene, riding my bike to Half Price Books to buy Fever to Tell because Pitchfork told me to. I hear Maps and feel like I am dreaming. I hear Y Control and feel like I am being electrocuted.
The year is 2006. I am a sophomore DJ at my college radio station, 90.1 FM The Sound. The other DJs are saying the new YYY album is boring. I listen to Show Your Bones and feel like Karen O wrote each song specifically for me. Nick Zinner is my best friend.
The year is 2013. I am seeing the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for the first time in concert at First Avenue. My then girlfriend and I are on the rocks but I still let her come with. When the concert starts she stops existing. Nobody exists except for me and the band.
The year is 2019. I meet a new girl who gives me Fever to Tell on vinyl for my birthday and I feel like I could marry her. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have been on hiatus for years, but Karen O is giving me her blessing.
The space year is 2022. The new girl is now my wife. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are back. Karen O is still the coolest person on the planet, my spirit guide, a fellow traveler in this life. Nick Zinner is once again my best friend.
Have you seen the documentary Meet Me in the Bathroom? About the rise of the Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and others from the scene. It's pretty good. I think it's on Showtime.
I haven't seen it yet but I've been meaning to! I'm pretty sure that after I watch it I'm going to spend all my time researching time travel theories to try to go back.