Customer Reviews

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I'm not always sure where my music choices come from, nor can I understand why I'm so adamant to analyze and defend them. Many music enthusiasts get downright ugly if you even hint at showing disregard for something they love, yet I guess that's just a distinct trait of those who take their music seriously. But for us jaded listeners that pledge devotion to the avant-garde and noise albums of today, is it still possible for us to like good ol' wholesome pop music?

New York's newest underground party pack Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is a band teetering on the fence of obscurity and stardom, with so much hype that even David Bowie is showing up to their gigs. Their self-titled (and self-released) debut is an album which will force even the most hardened listeners to throw in the towel. And it's about time!!! I, for one, have needed a great pop record for a very long time. This is perfect timing, too, because I've been pretty disenchanted with what's happened in 2005 so far.

On the album's intro, "Clap Your Hands," I'm reminded of what it might be like if Jack White sang during the 7th Inning stretch of a Cubs game. It swiftly leads into the first proper song, called "Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away," where we're met with perfectly paced pop and quaint, yet familiar sounding, vocals from Alec Ounsworth. While many are quick to dismiss him as Byrne derivative, I'm more inclined to compare him to a shakier live version of Thom Yorke. Nevertheless, I find Ounsworth to be quite original in terms of distinction, someone who will certainly make a name for himself in the months to come. His band mates better watch out, too.

While I won't challenge that "Over and Over Again (Lost and Found)" could be quickly labeled a second coming of the Talking Heads, I'll admit that I find it more enjoyable than just about anything they ever recorded. The carefree approach in which this song takes is enough to give credibility to the band's gift to be original. "Details of the War," a decisive favorite of the TMT staff, changes route for a moment to show a more emotive side to the band's repertoire. Appearing to completely forgo the giddy tone of the album, it takes a step back and gives it to us straight. Or does it?

Where someone might be thrown off by CYHSY is in the vocals of "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth," which admittedly, are somewhat peculiar. But after nearly two listens to the song, you begin to realize that the instrumentation is equally as interesting and important to the juxtaposition of their sound. I might add here, while we're on the subject, that it's the juxtaposition of sounds that truly makes Clap Your Hands Say Yeah pleasurable.

For my personal favorite song, "In This Home on Ice," I find myself wanting to claim it as the best pop song I've heard in a long time. Borrowing equally from early '90s bands like The Sundays and Ride, the faultless tempo and aural textures remind me of all my favorite songs from that time. But please don't ask me to tell you what Ounsworth sings, because I haven't got a clue; nor do I care. It's the feelings of happiness and nostalgia I get from the music that are important to me.

To be honest, the last statement in the previous paragraph is pretty much the overall consensus I have about Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. There's nothing overly inventive about the contents of this disc, and I certainly wouldn't go so far as to call it ground breaking. However, since I don't always find pop albums to be overly enjoyable, I'm excited that this one has allowed me to let my guard down and be reminded that it's still possible for the jaded listener to like good ol' wholesome pop music.

Forget about all the intellectualizing done in the other reviews that focus on how "bad" and "annoying" the singer is. What I know is that I'm an infuriatingly selective headphones junkie and I keep listening and listening and LISTENING to this record. So if you want to accuse Alec Ounsworth of something, accuse him of having the guts and brilliance to offer up something new, fun and heartfelt to a music world swimming in boredom, convention and vapidity. There are times when CYHSY are just about as exciting as the jumpiest Animal Collective songs but with lyrics you can actually decipher. Also the running time is perfect at just over thirty-seven minutes, observing the philosophy, "Do your best stuff and get the hell out." Bold and comfortable at the same time. Quite rare.
This is a record for the intelligent listener who'd rather feel music than talk about it.

I can type a long review for this album but in short, this is an album that is just worth listening to. My range of taste in music varies and I was surprised that I would like this. The opening track, Clap Your Hands, threw me off at first but after the first 20 seconds of the album, you begin to see what a great album this is. This definitly ranks up to be one of my favorites of 2005. Check out, Wolf Parade, Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket, Broken Social Scene.

It's simply a matter of taste. If you're looking for a melodic crooner with a sweet, spare lilt -- you're better off elsewhere.

But if you're open to a fresh, exciting, even rugged sound -- vocals included! -- you've GOT to spin this album.

I haven't been able to wrest it from my car stereo for months. I must have played it 70 times by now. One of those albums in which you know immediately which songs are your very favorites. And yet, a few more listens in, you've changed your mind completely and have fallen in love with two other songs. A dozen listens later and your favorites are two OTHER songs you hadn't even considered in the running before.

It's dramatic, it's exciting, it's innovative, and it's solid top to bottom. It's also well-layered. Beneath the impossibly catchy hooks, there's a gritty undercurrent of wild-eyed angst and consuming desperation.

These guys have talent packed right to the teeth and the album shows it all over the place.

This band is absolutely fascinating to me. I love to put on "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" when I have company over because the song always becomes a conversation piece, absolutely refusing to fade in to the background. Once the singer starts in, nobody I know has been able to refrain from commenting, and if you ask me, that is a really good thing.

That is only one consideration though. It is also important to ask how much this band sacrifices for the sake of forcing a reaction from people (obviously I think the singer cracks his voice on purpose). I would say they sacrifice very little. Yes, the vocals are surprising and strange, but once the initial shock wears off , the style of the music actually benefits from the offbeat singing. The vocals construct the band as a sort of "everyman" group and, set on top of the danceable, pulsing music, they make the listener feel a certain intimacy toward the group. In other words, instead of listening reverently to someone who belts out songs with unusual virtuoso, you feel like you're listening to your friends beat out some dance tunes with real conviction.

To adress the issue of originality: Yes, this band draws obvious comparisons to Gang of Four, Talking Heads, etc. But really, are there any good, truly original bands nowadays? Good pop music, at the moment, is something of a pastiche art. It takes recognizable influences and runs them through some kind of filter to produce something that is identifiable but somehow new. Therefore, the best music can defamiliarize a style for the listener. It can take a common type of music and force you to look at it as if for the first time. This is exactly what Clap Your Hands Say Yeah does for me, and that's why I would say they are worthy of a listen. Just don't try to put them on as background noise.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah self-released their debut album in late June and it's a major hit! Read why Pitchfork gave the album a 9!
(...)

Maybe no one told Clap Your Hands Say Yeah that first impressions are important. Or maybe they've just got massive sack. Either way, their self-released, self-titled debut CD opens with the weirdest, most potentially grating bit of snake-oil salesmanship you're likely to hear until Tom Waits puts out another record. I happen to dig the song, entitled "Clap Your Hands!" (a theme is emerging), but a maniacal carny barking over a stuttering calliope isn't for everyone. Those who persevere, though, will quickly discover that this garish foyer gives out onto spacious, elegant chambers of clean lines and soft lights.

Clap Your Hands are a five-piece from Brooklyn who're known to break out both harp and harmonica. They've recently been garnering rave press in their home city, and, over just the past two weeks, burning up the internet like a vintage Lohan nipslip. The pundits are saying Wilco (not hearing it), Talking Heads (okay), and Neutral Milk Hotel (getting warmer), but if it checks in with a number of modern and classic new wave referents, the music sings for itself: Clap Your Hands traffics in melodic, exuberant indie rock that pairs the shimmering, wafting feel of Yo La Tengo with a singular vocal presence that sounds like Paul Banks attempting to yodel through Jeff Mangum's throat. Or imagine the Arcade Fire if their music were more fun-loving and less grave.

Of course, if Clap Your Hands had a press kit, it would undoubtedly include something about "synthesizing these influences into a sound that's uniquely their own." And for once, it would be true. On the album's first true song, "Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away", a wailing vocal evokes Walkmen frontman Hamilton Leithauser, as hitching, muted guitars and singing melodic ones twist and furl over throbbing bass. On "Over and Over Again (Lost and Found)", the band veers into more Interpol-ish territory, with small, stripped guitars and bass, a thin synth wash, and lilting vocals with woozily yawning vowels. Same goes for the iridescent guitars, purring synths, and weary vocals of "Details of the War".

The record is consistently, remarkably strong, but "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" in particular stands out, with its richly buzzing synth phrases, textbook Modest Mouse guitar lead (a trebly, gliding string bend skimming over the rhythm like a flat stone over a pond), contrapuntal bass, and shuffling drums. The song also features one of vocalist Alec Ounsworth's most memorable performances: He ramps up the urgency as the heavier chords kick in, his voice cracking and shifting in cascading waves as if someone were pressing his vocal cords to a fret board and bending them. "Is This Love?", with its clean, galloping guitars and fruit loop synth trills is the song most blatantly redolent of Neutral Milk Hotel (especially of the unhinged pop and careening vocals Mangum favored on On Avery Island), and its dizzily wowing vocal harmonies carry over to "Heavy Metal", where fuzzed-out bass and wheezing harmonica punch smart shapes into the fizzy guitars.

There's something really refreshing about stumbling across a great band that's trembling on the cusp without any sort of press campaign or other built-in mythology-- you actually get to hear the music with your own ears. While a lot of bands view the promotional apparatus as a necessary evil, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah prove that it's still possible for a band to get heard, given enough talent and perseverance, without a PR agency or a label. Indie rock has received a much-needed kick in the pants, and we have the rare chance to decide what a band sounds like of our own accord before any agency cooks up and disseminates an opinion for us. Damn, maybe this is how it's supposed to work!"

-Brian Howe, June 22, 2005

Tracklisting:

Clap Your Hands!
Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away
Over and Over Again (Lost & Found)
Sunshine & Clouds (And Everything Proud)
Details of the War
The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth
Is This Love?
Heavy Metal
Blue Turning Gray
In This Home On Ice
Gimme Some Salt
Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood

(...)

I seem to be drawn to bands that have singer who isnt considered to be "good." If this guys sucks I guess I just like sucky music. Ask pitchfork they gave it a rare 9.0. Overall this band reminds me most of the Talking Heads. In an age when most upbeat music lacks substance or creativity CYHSY seems to have created something original that doesent make you want to eat a gun. This is a good thing. Also these fools dont have a record label bleeding them dry so buy the album instead of burning it. I'm sure the band would appreciate it.

Only recently did I pick up CYHSY's self-titled album. I must say, I came away very impressed with the music on this album. However, like many others on here have said, the vocals are hard to listen to at times, it's so off-key it makes you think that any schmo could sing in this bad. But, after a few listens through the album I have become hooked on this album. Standout tracks include "Over and Over Again", "Details of the War" and "Gimme Some Salt". The albums closes brilliantly with the final four songs. This is definitely an album you should pick up if you are looking for something new and different.

This CD is probably not for everybody... but, if you can get into it, it's amazing. I think there has been a lot of hype on a lot of mediocre CDs in 2005, but you will not be disappointed with this one.

My favorite songs: The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth, In This Home On Ice.

when i first put in this cd and began listening to track 1, i became afraid that i had thrown my money away. alec ounsworth's scratchy howl over delicate circus-esque music. it is unsettling and a bit shocking upon first listen. track 2, a more tradition, fast paced, garage rock song, very bass heavy and immediately catchy, put my uneasiness to rest. after becoming acquainted with the extremely original, upbeat style that this band exhibits, i've come to love even the bizarre first track. the lyrics are difficult to decipher on most tracks (a shame b/c, if you read the lyrics in the cd book, you'll find they are honest, funny and heartbreaking all at once, even if they are nonsensical at times) , but fit perfectly with the overall tone of the record, which is extremely festive and motivating. this is sunny day music. windows down music. a nice alternative to arcade fire's funeral, which i tend not to associate with bright, happy moods. it has a childlike charm that will make you smile and you'll find yourself howling along despite the fact that you have no idea what alec is saying. my favorite tracks have changed over the past week and i think they've all qualified at this point. it's a rarity for bands these days to vary songs so much but to have the album remain above par, flowing seamlessly from one song to the next. "but upon this tidal wave, oh god! oh god!" i've definitely freaked out fellow drivers singing that line.