TORONTO - Just say yes, yes, yes to Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The dynamic Brooklyn avant-punk rock trio took over Kool Haus on Monday night and the excitement at seeing mesmerizing lead singer Karen O was palpable.

Thankfully, the compelling and stylish Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman didn't disappoint the sold-out crowd.

Karen O (whose real last name is Orzolek) looks like a sexy version of Olive Oyl with her long limbs, bowl-cut brunette hairdo, smear of bright red lipstick, and out-there stage makeup and extravagant clothes.

She sounds like Chrissie Hynde -- despite her trademark yelps, squeaks and shrieks. And she moves like a cross between Patti Smith, Debbie Harry and Siouxsie Sioux.

It's a powerful, potent combination and one that has drawn many female admirers, judging from the number of screaming, dancing girls in the audience.

Raising the musical stakes are Karen O's bandmates -- guitarist-keyboardist Nick Zinner and drummer Brian Chase -- whose excellent musicianship was augmented by Vancouver-based Imaad Wasif on acoustic guitar, keyboards and bass. Wasif was one of two opening acts.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs showcased virtually every song from their weeks-old second album, Show Your Bones, opening Monday night's 95-minute show with the likable first single, Gold Lion, which was followed by new tune Honey Bear.

But often the older, grittier, songs such as Black Tongue, Y Control, Tick and Date With The Night from the band's 2003 debut, Fever To Tell, really got the crowd going, particularly the slow-moving, hypnotic breakthrough hit, Maps, and its equally poignant companion song, Modern Romance.

The audience was even rewarded with Miles Away, from the band's 2001 EP, which closed the show before the group returned for a five-song encore. By that time, Karen O had changed into a hooded shirt with long knitted tendrils that made for a built-in wig. Zinner also took pictures of the audience on either side of the stage.

Other new standouts included the rollicking Mysteries, Cheated Hearts, and Dudley, the slinkier The Sweets and Warrior, and the country-inflected Turn Into.

Initially decked out in a metallic outfit, a sparkly glove on one hand and theatrical makeup that formed a "y" symbol under each eye, Karen O didn't utter a word for the first 50 minutes, letting her riveting performance speak for itself.

She jumped, skipped and danced around the stage when she wasn't falling to her knees to accentuate a note, throwing a towel over her head, or dramatically holding one of her arms outstretched with her microphone high in the air.

And when she put a disco ball hat on her head or provocatively pulled down the shoulders of her outfit during Cheated Hearts, the crowd went nuts.

"Hi Toronto -- sorry I've been kind of shy tonight," she finally said despite her earlier antics. "But I'm going to look you in the eye and say we really f---ing love you guys!"

The feeling, it appears, was and is mutual.