A ton of people had their eyes trained on this sophomore release and it's difficult to give it a fair shake once you've muled-up to the "pre-order" download carrot and subsequent hype. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's debut was a decent, giddy first album -- not the end-all, be-all, "best indie release ever" that it was willed to be by fans and critics. It was just a good record that fortunate events conspired to elevate beyond its own scope and capabilities. It was over-hyped, plain and simple, and (lord bless 'em) the guys in CYHSY soldiered through it all, and seemed well enough armored to take the gushing praise, smile politely, stick it under their collective hat and then get back to doing what they were doing. This is significant because history says that once your band is hyped that much, you're usually toast. Heads get big, sights get set too high and direction is lost. It's sad, but it's often the way these kinds of "best debut ever" stories play themselves out. The proof in the pudding is, without fail, the second record, with all of its anticipated greatness. Will it exceed expectations? Will it be a blunder? Sometimes it all hinges on number two, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's debut follow-up, Some Loud Thunder, comes to plate, visibly sweating under the strain and stress. The opening song (and title track) "Some Loud Thunder," immediately divides the fan base with insanely compressed and distorted production that makes the rest of producer Dave Fridmann's work sound like purist, two-mic, chamber ensemble recordings. It's waaaaaay over the top (it actually physically hurts to listen to it) -- it's not heavy, it's painful -- and that will make it or break it for some folks right there. Hold up though, remember their debut recording started off with some crazy carnival banter -- maybe this is just the weird opener here? It is. There's nothing else on the album that gets to "Some Loud Thunder"'s level of "ouch" and there's even a "non-distorto" version of the tune floating around the download sites for those who can't take the pain. Get past that, and you start getting into the real stuff -- the bulk of which tends toward meandering tension builders that never really take off. Free from label prodding (and polishing) the guys in CYHSY seem to spend a great deal of this album screwing around on trumpets, accordions and prepared pianos. It sure sounds like they indulged every overdub whim that could be conceived and, at times, it's a bit off-putting for the listener. "Quit screwing around and get back to work...please!" Really, that's good solid advice because when CYHSY apply themselves, good stuff happens. The meandering tension builders ("Emily Jean Stock," "Love Song No. 7," the indulgent instrumental "Upon Encountering the Crippled Elephant," "Goodbye to Mother and the Cove" and "Five Easy Pieces") all have their moments but there's definitely an unfinished and tentative feel here. It sounds like a band accompanying a singer/songwriter who can't fully let go of that riveting coffee house spotlight. On the aforementioned songs, you could strip away all the incidental noodling and end up with a decent singer/songwriter record. It seems, in an effort to sound more sophisticated (read, serious) CYHSY have kind of taken a step backward. It's not all like this though. There are moments of brilliance, both musically and lyrically, and they are all contained in the tunes that are the most realized. "Mama, Won't You Keep Them Castles in the Air and Burning?"makes this list, if only for the thoughtful lyrics of Alec Ounsworth. "Arm and Hammer" is where things really start to coalesce. There's still a lot of spontaneous creativity at work here, but it's wrangled in enough to give the tune a sense of purpose. Lyrically, this one's on a mission and it succeeds in being a nice, bitter "F***k Off!!" as well as an affirming manifesto. "Yankee Go Home" is quite good -- maybe the most fully realized thing on the whole album. Great melody, great lyrics, somewhat more refined overdub coloration -- and it's got guts. "Papa said get used to it/Papa said it gets so goddam hard but I get used to it" and "I'm calling upon North Carolina to help me out here" are but two of the fine bits of lyric on "Yankee..." and, when this song builds up to it's blow-out chorus, it sincerely rocks. "Satan Said Dance" certainly has the goods to be an indie-kid party bopper. All dissonant, demented disco bounce (ŕ la the Cure) with that "guaranteed to raise an eyebrow" refrain of "Satan, Sa-tan, Satan, Satan, Sa-tan." It's fun, well played and slightly unsettling, a perfect disjointed dance number, but Ounsworth's lyrics here seem throwaway and that, sadly, lends the tune an air of novelty. "Underwater (You and Me)" also barely makes this list -- helped in large part by Ounsworth's good lyric work, but hindered by a decidedly demo-ish sheen. Half the album is guilty of this, while the other half seems light-years ahead in the band development department. Is this an "age of the digital download" thing? Are CYHSY banking on a few "out of album context" downloaded singles to buoy this record? If they are, and it works out, it could be one of the most forward thinking business plans ever.
CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH – SOME LOUD THUNDER (2007)Alec Ounsworth’s Clap Your Hands Say Yeah were one of the stories of 2005. Buoyed by the bloggers, some positive reviews from the Indie websites, the jerky post punks’ debut effort was a surprising success, and another example of the power of creating the groundswell of interest via the internet. Their sophomore release carries a degree of e
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O.K. so I'm listening to "Some Loud Thunder" right now, and I'm thinking of how much better this album would be if Alec Ounsworth could sing. The poor bloke can't hold a tune in a bucket. He sounds like a drunken David Byrne wearing a synchronized swimmers nose clip. I'm sure they've got something going for them (and ofcourse Pitchfork loves them "All Hail Pitchfork"), but I'm struggling with t...
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Here's the playlist from my not-so-stellar radio show last night. But I felt compelled to not let another week go by without doing a show. You can stream it here. And there's podcast xml here if you want to subscribe to my show.1. The Zambonis - Ode to a Minor League Mascot (Buddy's Theme) More Songs About Hockey and Buildings and Food2. The Bats - I Fall Away The Law of Things3. Andre...
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You know , the new Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! is quite good , it is quirky , groovy , fresh and refreshing . i really enjoy the singers voice and the band has a really unique way of building up then tearing down. In fact the more I listen , the more epic this album sounds. Its full of big sounds without sounding pushy or over produced. Songs like "Yankee go home" and "Satan said dance" have a ja...
More >
http://www.fawm.orgFebruary has apparently been designated as "Album Writing Month." The NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month -- http://www.nanowrimo.org) style competition has people writing fourteen songs in twenty-eight days for a daily creative mad-dash in a creative marathon.And I will be creatively huffing and puffing at the end of it. Not to mention that my GPA will die a sordid dea...
More >
awesome compact disc that lives up to its title.
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Hello all. I am back. I had all but abandoned mog when i realized it was the Mog-O-Matic that was killing my internet. This was a version way back when, and so I'm hoping that the new versions have successfully addressed this.In all honesty i really thought i could give you all up for ever, but there is so much good music to talk about. So lets get started._CYHSY ponder how loud thunder is._The...
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i got my copy this morning. might review it after giving it a good listen through tonight. im super excited as im a big fan which happens to be the one thing putting me off of reviewing it as im inclined to be biased. as an interesting sidenote, i was once mistaken for a member of CYHSY by a boy out of bloc party. true story. now im gonna sink into my headphones.
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Why is myspace saying that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is previewing Some Loud Thunder when it clearly is not? Anyone know of a good place to find the album or preview it yet? Anyone like to read posts where people ask for albums instead of point you out to where you can find them?Question: Alec Ounsworth - sexy, in a short, balding kinda way?
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a couple of new songs have popped up on Pitchfork. Can they continue to be critical darlings into 2007? Will they fall victim to the crushing, imploding force of the blog-o-verse? Will the new album deliver HALF of the emotive destruction as their last did? You be the judge."ClapYourHandsSayYeah Pitchfork Preview Tracks":http://pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/2006/12/5/Clap_Your_Hands_Reveal_Ne...
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Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are heading off to Hollywood. The Brooklyn buzz band has won over the hearts of not only us, their adoring fans, but some major movie execs. Turns out CYHSY postponed several (5!) Midwest tour dates to jet off to Tinseltown so they could appear in The Great Buck Howard, alongside Oscar winner Tom Hanks, John Malkovich, Emily Blunt and Hank’s son, Colin Hanks. And, how .
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CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH – SOME LOUD THUNDER (2007)Alec Ounsworth’s Clap Your Hands Say Yeah were one of the stories of 2005. Buoyed by the bloggers, some positive reviews from the Indie websites, the jerky post punks’ debut effort was a surprising success, and another example of the power of creating the groundswell of interest via the internet. Their sophomore release carries a degree of e
More >
_a wait, clap your hands say yeah_catharsis.and because i still like clap your hands, unlike someand because i get to see them live tomorrow night... and although i am more interested in seeing elvis perkins, cyhsy _will_ be a shaking* good* time*and because it is at the variety. which has the best acoustics in atlanta to listen.~also, dr.dog, we all belong. that is a goood album...~
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O.K. so I'm listening to "Some Loud Thunder" right now, and I'm thinking of how much better this album would be if Alec Ounsworth could sing. The poor bloke can't hold a tune in a bucket. He sounds like a drunken David Byrne wearing a synchronized swimmers nose clip. I'm sure they've got something going for them (and ofcourse Pitchfork loves them "All Hail Pitchfork"), but I'm struggling with t...
More >
You know , the new Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! is quite good , it is quirky , groovy , fresh and refreshing . i really enjoy the singers voice and the band has a really unique way of building up then tearing down. In fact the more I listen , the more epic this album sounds. Its full of big sounds without sounding pushy or over produced. Songs like "Yankee go home" and "Satan said dance" have a ja...
More >
a couple of new songs have popped up on Pitchfork. Can they continue to be critical darlings into 2007? Will they fall victim to the crushing, imploding force of the blog-o-verse? Will the new album deliver HALF of the emotive destruction as their last did? You be the judge."ClapYourHandsSayYeah Pitchfork Preview Tracks":http://pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/2006/12/5/Clap_Your_Hands_Reveal_Ne...
More >
i got my copy this morning. might review it after giving it a good listen through tonight. im super excited as im a big fan which happens to be the one thing putting me off of reviewing it as im inclined to be biased. as an interesting sidenote, i was once mistaken for a member of CYHSY by a boy out of bloc party. true story. now im gonna sink into my headphones.
More >
Here's the playlist from my not-so-stellar radio show last night. But I felt compelled to not let another week go by without doing a show. You can stream it here. And there's podcast xml here if you want to subscribe to my show.1. The Zambonis - Ode to a Minor League Mascot (Buddy's Theme) More Songs About Hockey and Buildings and Food2. The Bats - I Fall Away The Law of Things3. Andre...
More >
Hello all. I am back. I had all but abandoned mog when i realized it was the Mog-O-Matic that was killing my internet. This was a version way back when, and so I'm hoping that the new versions have successfully addressed this.In all honesty i really thought i could give you all up for ever, but there is so much good music to talk about. So lets get started._CYHSY ponder how loud thunder is._The...
More >
http://www.fawm.orgFebruary has apparently been designated as "Album Writing Month." The NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month -- http://www.nanowrimo.org) style competition has people writing fourteen songs in twenty-eight days for a daily creative mad-dash in a creative marathon.And I will be creatively huffing and puffing at the end of it. Not to mention that my GPA will die a sordid dea...
More >
Why is myspace saying that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is previewing Some Loud Thunder when it clearly is not? Anyone know of a good place to find the album or preview it yet? Anyone like to read posts where people ask for albums instead of point you out to where you can find them?Question: Alec Ounsworth - sexy, in a short, balding kinda way?
More >
awesome compact disc that lives up to its title.
More >
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 "Some Loud Thunder")
