For the third act in The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ already storied career, Karen O and co. unveiled ten new tracks — running the gamut between hot dance-floor disco and winsome balladry – with the March 31st release of It’s Blitz. Although the wild variations in style and the addition of synths might seem antithetical for a band once heralded as torchbearers of garage rock, none of it feels out of place coming from this band. This album only furthers their reputation as one of the most interesting and inimitable bands of this decade.

For fans of The YYYs’ raucous, in-your-face attitude, one look at the exploding egg on the album cover should assuage any misgivings. The first two tracks, “Zero” and “Heads Will Roll,” kick things off by combining the band’s trademark swagger with the synths that permeate almost every part of this album. The band makes good use of the unfamiliar instruments on both tracks. Karen O’s vocals are, to put it lightly, climactic on the chorus of the former; the latter finds her snarling a bit more.

The arrangement of the mid-tempo “Softshock” leaves plenty of space for the listener to get lost in, with only O’s beautiful siren song to lead the way through the musical twists and turns. Segueing into “Skeletons,” the synths continue to pulsate and loop over themselves until the rat-a-tat of drumsticks puts some meat on the bones. Everything about this song sounds anthemic and yet sparse, right down to the vocals, wherein O sounds like she’s singing only to you but from a great distance away.

“Dull Life” and “Shame and Fortune” bounce along happily enough, although neither track inspires one to dance into oblivion (like the first two) or cry from the sheer power of its fragility (see: tracks 3 and 4). If there is a lackluster point on this album –- and I’m not quite sure there is –- this would be it. The tempo shift on “Dull Life” and fuzzy guitar on “Shame” are actually pretty enjoyable; they just lose some of the punch of the first four.

The acoustic piano on “Runaway” makes Karen O sound like she’s channeling Marketa Irglova, and I mean that in the very best way. Again, this may sound odd for the YYYs, but something in O’s inflection and the pulse of the drums lets you know it’s them.

“Dragon Queen” is probably the most “New Wave”-sounding track on the album, and someone is bound to make that comparison due to all the synths in play here. But this definitely isn’t a “New Wave” album, and the band proves it with the completely true-to-form “Hysteric,” a song that would be right at home on any of the band’s previous albums. The fleet-footed drums, the subdued and buzzing guitar parts and, yes, Karen O’s unmistakable voice remind fans why they loved this band so much in the first place.

The curtains close with the stripped-down simplicity of “Little Shadow,” putting the listener gently to rest on vocals as soft and transcendent as the clouds themselves. The guitar pulses and rings out on the final note — a subtle reminder that this is not some laptop rock dance band; this is The Yeah Yeah Yeahs — a band that can elicit tears via toughness or tenderness. I can’t wait for the encore.