Yeah Yeah Yeahs (The Kool Haus, Toronto, April 10)

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You have to feel for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. There are the mixed reviews for their sophomore album, Show Your Bones. There's the Spin cover story painting a picture of a band coming apart at the seams. And then there's the greatest indignity of them all: the Gwen Stefani comparisons.

That Karen O and Stefani are ever mentioned in the same breath is a sign of how much rock is still starved for female icons. If, say, Dave Grohl were to leave the Foo Fighters, nobody would talk about him pulling a Rob Thomas. But as the dominant member of an otherwise male band, likely to one day enjoy a successful solo career, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs front woman is subject to endless speculation as to whether she'll prove to be the next Gwen.

For that comparison to be anything but ludicrous, O and her bandmates would have had to undergo a radical transformation. And while Show Your Bones is more polished and restrained than 2003's Fever to Tell, Monday's show served ample notice that this is still the same hot-blooded rock machine we've come to expect.

Admittedly, that wasn't immediately apparent. While Gold Lion works well on radio, the new album's lead single made for a slightly sedate opener. But by the time she'd followed it up with the more high-octane Honeybear and crowd-pleaser Black Tongue, the singer - somehow maintaining her agressive sex appeal with a boyish bowl haircut and typically gaudy silver dress - was in full stomp.

Granted, she's calmed down a bit. Glass wasn't broken, water wasn't spat into the crowd (though she did spew it in the air) and she only tried to swallow the microphone a couple of times. But that's a sign of growing self-assurance. Giving the gimmicks a miss (save for emerging for the six-song encore in endearingly elaborate costume), O remains charismatic as ever - a ferocious unpredictability lending excitement to every step and high-decibel yelp, and minimal banter generating an aloofness that works to her advantage.

That aloofness extends to her bandmates, the lack of interaction pouring fuel on the Spin-ignited fires. But to call the New Yorkers a one-woman show insults wispy guitarist Nick Zinner and drummer Brian Chase, who combine - including on newer songs such as surefire single Cheated Hearts - for a powerhouse sound that transcends standard garage rock.

But it was Karen O, clearly, that the audience came to see. And if we're going to be hypocrites and start comparing front women, it bears notice that she's achieved much the same phenomenon as her former roommate, Emily Haines.

Like the Metric singer, O has developed a massive following among young women, as evidenced by the high-octave screams that greeted each song. In a music world in which critics manage to bring every chanteuse back to Gwen Stefani, girls are clearly starving for distinctive female rock stars. And so long as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs can hold it together, they'll be hard-pressed to find a better one.