Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 29/01/07
Label: Wichita Recordings

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah proved beyond a shadow of a doubt in 2005 that the DIY ethic of English punk was still in rude health elsewhere in the world. The Brooklyn-based five-piece recorded, released and promoted their self-titled debut all by themselves. Their efforts were bolstered by an entirely new phenomenon however - that of the blogosphere. Online hype caused many to be extremely wary but the product that we ended up with was an old fashioned indie record in a very positive sense.

They were reminiscent of many bands but didn't sound like any one of them in particular and the songs they traded in were wondrous indeed. Tracks that initially sounded like a chaotic mess with a strangulated cat over the top, slowly revealed themselves to be gem like, attacking your consciousness like limpet mines. Because of the media scrum around the do-it-yourself nature of the first album, the follow-up, "Some Loud Thunder", arrives on the crest of an even taller hype wave.

The title track and opener has, bizarrely, been compressed till all of the needles are in the red. It sounds like someone shattering glass less than an inch from your ear and listening to it actually makes you feel unwell. A comment on the over compression of all chart music? A way of making you forget your expectations of the album? Whichever, it certainly cleanses the palate, but thankfully famed producer Dave Fridmann - Mercury Rev, The Flaming Lips - doesn't employ this trick again.

Of course we're more used to Alec Ounsworth's ultra-mannered vocals (equal parts David Byrne, Tom Verlaine and Robert Smith) now, so the songs are easier to process. "Emily Jean Stock" sounds like The Flaming Lips covering a Bruce Springsteen song. In fact, many of the bench marks here are those of the cosmic and psychedelic Americana such as The Lips and Sparklehorse rather than the straight up post-punk and goth that made the backbone of the first record. "Love Song No. 7" again comes across as Mercury Rev's "Goddess On A Highway" brought to us by Smog.

But those who were won over by the clipped and angular tones of their early output shouldn't fear. The stand-out track here (and one sure to tear-up student dance floors all year) is "Satan Said Dance". It is a phenomenal mix of staccato Talking Heads guitar lines, motorik Can rhythmical drive and the deranged, Violent Femmes-like "Satan, Satan, Satan" chant. An entirely satisfying sophomore effort.

    by John Doran