Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder

There have been few instances within the indie rock subculture where the hipsters and rock snobs have been able to push aside their overwhelming cynicism and grasp the merest glimmer of hope and optimistic thinking in their sad, depressing little world. And if you do some digging into those good times, one quickly realizes that everything revolves around indie rock’s oft-decried and regularly-lampooned addiction to proletarian idealism; i.e., “The Man tries to keep real music down, but we’re the only ones who keep it alive, not matter what radio stations play.” For instance, Wilco’s rise from the ashes of a corporate beat-down to release their acclaimed Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in 2002 marked a triumph of the music over the machine. And with every album that Radiohead released on Capitol, people stood up to cheer the victory of artistic integrity over the supposed necessity of pushing a single to the radio and indulging in PR campaigns.

But nothing could top the accolades and acclaim the gushed forth out of every possible pore in the indie rock body when the Brooklyn/Philadelphia-based band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (CYHSY) burst onto the scene. Not only did these guys release their self-titled debut album to rave reviews from every credible source imaginable, but they did everything on their own, refusing even to sign to any kind of label, indie or otherwise. Finally, hipsters everywhere had a band that truly comprised the indie rock “Darn The Man!” ethos (hipsters are usually too apathetic to truly “damn” anything) - these guys were accountable to no one but themselves and their music. With the sale of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah skyrocketing primarily through the Internet, the band thumbed its nose at the music machine and made great music at the same time.

So, when news surrounding the release of their second album, entitled Some Loud Thunder, began leaking out, people obviously began to wonder what might happen to CYHSY. Would the album be worth anything? Would the band do it all over again? What was going on?!? The last thing indie rock needed was for its poster band for true independence to release an album that sucked or, even worse, actually sign to a label, indie or otherwise.

Well, rest easy all of you skinny, unwashed, messenger bag-carrying masses - Some Loud Thunder is a quality album that’s filled with better songs and greater focus than the debut. Relying less on the uniqueness of singer Alec Ounsworth’s vocal stylings and with the novelty of going completely DIY wearing off, the five men of CYHSY have simply created a well-crafted pop album. The strength of this record is the songwriting - there are quirky love songs like “Underwater (You and Me)” and “Emily Jean Stock,” a song about demanding dancing demons (“Satan Said Dance”), and another written about people who don’t enjoy the ubiquitous presence of tourists (“Yankee Go Home”). Moreover, each track pulses with an intensity and depth that is equal parts challenging and accessible - these are talented musicians who are making music that they truly seem to enjoy.

Granted, things can get a little off-kilter on occasion as there are times when it seems that the band is trying a bit too hard to be intentionally “out there.” The scratchy vocal/recording technique employed on the album’s title track makes it hard to grasp a hold of how that song and potentially other songs might progress. (Note to CYHSY - Don’t make the first song of the album a warbly, low-fi mess because people might stop listening before they get to the good stuff.) And then there are songs that just fall a bit flat and seem uninspired or (again) too obtuse - “Arm And Hammer” and “Goodbye to Mother and the Cove” stand out as the best examples. (Note #2 to CYHSY - I get that you want to defy conventions with your approach and style, and while I’m all for it, you’d think that you’d want to make sure that people will actually want to listen to your music. You can’t perpetually rely on indie rock kids to always buy everything just because Pitchfork might recommend it.)

What makes this album worth purchasing? Besides the fact that people should support independent musicians and bands by actually purchasing (as in, not stealing) their music, great tracks and quality music drive this album. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah has moved beyond selling their records based upon reputation as an indie rock fairy tale. This is a band that’s worth something, constantly touring without a multi-million dollar PR machine driving the pimped-out tour bus. True, the hipster blogosphere might have purchased the used and dirty 15-passenger van for the band, but the band is the one driving and providing the fuel for where they’re going. So, in case some of you rock snobs weren’t sure about CYHSY and were still maintaining your jaded distance, bandwagon jumping is encouraged.

Rating: 7.1

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