Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

http://pitchforkmedia.com/tracks/05-06-14.shtml

Just got the new record yesterday and it's very good as well.

They're playing a free show at South Street Seaport in August, for those interested NYC ILMers.

Does this signal the beginning of the first wave of backlash or something?

how does the review not talk about television?

+ grassroots (or blog) buzz
+ mainstream (ie, Pitchfork) raves
+ it's a very good album and when people download it, they will discover as much

how long until this pfm review shows up on http://indierock4eva.blogspot.com/

Discussion points:

- Every time it seems like conventional indie rock has gasped its last...the genre still pulls off raw, celebratory spirit more convincingly than almost any other

- 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.

- 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!

- Every time it seems like conventional indie rock has gasped its last...the genre still pulls off raw, celebratory spirit more convincingly than almost any other

This is true so long as we replace "it seems" with "I feel" and append "for me" to the beginning of that second phrase.

- 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.

This is true. But it's "refreshing" not because it happens so rarely, in the grand scheme of things, but rather because when it happens to you, individually, it feels really refreshing.

- 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!

I think this is hogwash on several points, not the least of which is that Pitchfork is a major tastemaker and will leave many sheep in its wake!

Pitchfork: I suppose people need their angle. But I almost just feel bad for you guys. Like we tend to get really carried away when we love a record, and while that tends to help a lot of bands we think deserve attention, there can also be negative repercussions if we go too nuts.

"I mean, really: A band that mashes together Talking Heads and Neutral Milk Hotel while also stopping in to visit the shimmering, wafting ambiance of Yo La Tengo, the harmonic trickery of Modest Mouse, and the chorused guitarwork of pre-Loveless My Bloody Valentine? What website do you think this is? We are fucking there."

Gotta say the reference points and comparisons in that review do NOT conjure up "raw, celebratory spirit" for me - Modest Mouse, Yo La Tengo, Interpol?? Shit, if I'd known it was gonna be that kind of party.... I'd have made other plans for the evening :-O

Most people who would buy this album aren't going to be able to just walk into a record shop in their city and pick this up. That's going to erase this album off many people's shopping lists, no matter how good it may be or no matter how much buzz it may have.

Most people who would buy this album probably read about it on someone's blog, and then possibly on Stylus and Pitchfork. Logic leads me to believe that anyone who finds out about an album online can buy it online.

I hate buying albums online. I much, much, much prefer to shop in an actual store. There's so many albums on my list of music to buy that I'd rather pick up those things at a store than order something (ie this) online to satisfy my infinite hunger for noise.

i mean they gave "best new music" to the boy least likey to

what happened then?
nothing

I was listening to this again on the ride home and it's not as good as I remembered - but it is very good.

Also, I really liked the feel of the writing in that Pitchfork review (if not the entirety of its substance). Such excitement, really clearly articulated.

i fall in the grey area on this one
not sure there is really all that much to talk about and I'm not being a hatah

Citing reference points to other bands for the reader's benefit is one thing, but that review, to me, read like "this sounds like this, not this, but sort of like this." Yawn.

Johnny Fever - It wasn't those bits I was thinking of. But, um, I can't find any of the bits I was. Maybe the breathlessness? Maybe I made it up? I do usually like "it sort of sounds like this, but not, and also like this, kinda" reviews, though, so long as the referents are very disparate and unexpected. Sadly, that's not the case here. ('Oh look, Neutral Milk Hotel, Interpol and Yo La Tengo as indie rock touchstones!')

I went to see TSM in March at Irving Plaza NYC and I looked up in the balcony (the VIP section) and he was really enjoying the show.

It's just cool to say "I saw Bowie really enjoying himself"

I dunno, man. That sounds kind of dirty to me.

haha

pitchfork has oficially just turned into a clap your hands fan site
it's like costant updates in the news sections, HEADLINE: clap your hands STILL don't have label, still have nothing new to report, but we are excited to report there is nothing to report. more tomorrow about how clap your hands are playing a sold out show at southpaw

whoop!

he MADE THEM
i'm surprised they didn't get them to do the intonation festival

When I uploaded the album to #IT at the beginning of June, no more than 5 or 6 people grabbed it that day. A few days later (before any of the online zines had hyped it), 100 people a day were downloading it. I'm pretty sure this is all due to word of mouth and a few mentions on popular weblogs.

So fuck the PR conspiracy theories. Anyone who buys that shit just has an axe to grind.

Because there is absolutely nothing remarkable about it otherwise?

Because there is absolutely nothing remarkable about it otherwise?

---

Exactly. It's just like, so what?

i was one of those people... id been looking for it after, coincidentally, downloading some songs that Mystery and Misery posted... and i dont think i posted to say thanks at IT.. so thanks.

This is just stupid. I can tell you for a fact that there's no monstrous PR force and that the band is mystified just as everyone else is.

Good of you to focus on the PR agency rather than the band itself Matthew. Taking a few career notes from them?

Gamble and win big with CYHSY!! YOU CAN NOT LOSE!!

m.

Then the unexpected happens. That Guy At Sonic Boom turns the CD off. He turns it off and puts something else on.

This NEVER happens. I mean, he's a nice guy, but he's usually the purveyor of indie mediocrity. He NEVER allows a highly boring indie rock record to stop before the last note and those 30 seconds of the afterglow of bore, to allow the flavorless sap to ooze about a few millimeters from the master stereo system first, before either putting on another similar CD or, best yet, letting his co-worker put something on instead.

I'm stunned. His CO-WORKER is stunned too. He goes "what was that all about?" in all seriousness, just having witnessed actual impatience from That Guy In Sonic Boom. That Guy responds "omg well.. you know.. i thought a band called Clap Your Hands Say Yeah would sound.. well you know.. more exciting.. and i was waiting to hear the parts that would make me want to clap my hands... but.. they never came.. and it was just.. REALLY boring.. so I had to stop it."

I froze. I didn't evoke it, but my mental reaction was somewhere between "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!" and that climactic scene in Rosemary's Baby where Mia Farrow covers her mouth, widens her eyes until they almost fall out, and screams "IIIIT CAAAAAAAAAAN'T BEEEEEEEEE!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

Well, that does it then. This confirms that -- officially -- hype dead.

That's a lot of people.

which obviously isn't to say that CHSY are comparable to those bands, or that they had the same intent when choosing a name, but isn't it a bit silly of a record store clerk to expect much of anything based on a band's name?

They've signed!

To, um...4AD. *plotzes*

No confirmation yet but I have the creeping horrors.

After another listen, the voice sounds not as much like David Saunders from the 3Ds as much as Gunnar Hjálmarsson from Bless/Dr. Gunni (Icelandic rock dude).. but on Benadryl.

I'm still just astounded at the "trying hard to sound like we care, but really we're try.zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" at this album. Granted, many bands have given off that impression -- like Pavement for instance -- but speaking as someone who's hardly a Pavement apologist, at least Pavement had a LOT more going on in their music to back up their looseness...(if the term "looseness" really applies.). This CYHSY album sounds like they want to sound loose just because loose is supposed to sound good by default. Like how really crappy bands purposely recorded themselves on boomboxes a decade ago because they heard "lo-fi" was hip.. or something. Ugh.. someone scrape this album from the gutter already, please.

MAYBE.... the band is better live. But if the album is an indication of their live shows, Pixies were smart in getting a dreadfully boring band to open for them. It will pump up the crowd even more when Pixies take the stage. Maybe 4AD should help reform Spirea X as well and thrown them on.

To, um...4AD.

Note to self: learn to sound like shit.

On the other hand...

[Hangs self in bout of sour grapes]

Nah, they are pretty drab live. But then, I saw them on the same bill as Scissor Sisters and Maxi Geil, both of whom make most bands seem totally dull in comparison.

"Fuck, 7/2 offsuit AGAIN?"

This guy seems to like them live:
http://ni9e.com/blog_images/cyhsy_web.mov

RAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWFULLLLLLLLLL!!!!

Holy shit. I love you, Brian Turner.

Clay Your Hands Say Yeah is God's revenge on the masses who dissed Einar Örn and Frank Black for sounding too "whiny".

Donut, I take offense.

I'm all for a bit of discussion about what we don't like, but dwelling on the negative emotions this band elicits from some seems like a regrettable use of energy. Also, I'm somewhat wary of people's opinions being prejudiced by an emotional rejection of "hype" bands. From where I'm sitting, the ongoing level of critism they're subjected to feels disproportionate to the amount of hype they recieve.

xpost - yeah the dude can't sing.

And usually with most bands that give me a nauseous first impression, I learn to not puke as much the more I am forced to listen. Still though, every time I hear a band that justifies the term "self-fulfilling prophecy" even more, along comes the most SELF-FULFILLING PROPHETIC BAND EVER!

I'm sure both bands have "purity in their intention"... but so what? I'm sure the Lawdy Mama Blues Band that just formed the other day at your neighborhood Guitar Center docking bay have purity in their intention, too.

Ned and Donut are on fire!

Two thoughtful listens to CYHASY did absolutely nothing for me. I'm very skeptical of the hype machines these days.

i love the lawdy mama blues band!

i still haven't heard clap your hands say yeah!

http://www.fsu.edu/~crimdo/images/cooldudeani.gif

To quote Alex in NYC,
BWAHAHAHAAAAAAA

And suggesting otherwise would imply a degree of aural decrepitude on part of the declaimer.

For every 20 people that hype a band, there are 8 that will automatically backlash against said band.

And for every 20 backlashers, there's around 8 or so that will go "why is this band so polarizing? there MUST be something engaging about them. I will seek to find out."

Score.

I feel like I'm walking into a trap, but ok.

I hate to be, uh, Captain Obvious again. Don't want that nickname to stick! I'm a little baffled by their popularity myself. If I had to guess I'd say that the most interesting thing about this band is how they utilize these familiar chord progressions, almost like Dylan chord progressions (harmonica emphasizes this), Velvets chord progressions, which of course are even older than Dylan & the Velvets. While the sound is not exactly new and def "indie" or whatever, I think there's more of a kinship here with songwriters (structure-wise, also the aim lyrically, probably), Jonathan Richman or Bob Dylan, than 34000 campus bands, who would rather emulate Malkmus's dada shrug. This is my guess as to while they're popular; it's familiar. And while your classic ilmer is probably more interested in the unfamiliar, clap seems to pull off this trait in a scruffy indie underdog kinda way that appeals to a lot of people. Now, can I understand how people hate Alec's voice? Sure. Sometimes I wonder why he doesn't just sing like a normal person for once. I will admit, I like this band b/c they're my friends, and that is rather difficult to separate for me with the music. Would I like them otherwise? Not sure, but I've listened to it quite a bit and have never bristled like the hataz.

http://homepage.uibk.ac.at/homepage/csac/csac8573/Simpsons/imageJG8.JPG

Joseph, any critic can say that about any band. Try again.

OK, more to the point; the songwriting is boring, the singing is tuneless, the arrangements are halfass and the whole package reeks of a distinctly non-endearing brand of hobbyism.

= "I don't like them." It doesn't actually describe anything to do with how the music sounds. "Half-ass" is no more valid critically than just vapidly saying that something "sucks." Come on, ILM, if you're going to hate, remember what they told you in elementary school: Use your words!

however, it just doesn't grab me...at least this song....it sounds like some shambly poorly rehearsed garage band trying and failing to write a Smiths song.

It's called "Upon this Tidal Wave of Young Blood"...is this indicative of what they are like?

on the other hand, I also downloaded a song by the other current P-Fork rave, Wilderness, and MY GOD THIS IS FUCKING GREAT!....sort of "stately" is a way...it feels like Metal Box to me with out actually sounding anything like Metal Box....I could see the vocalist being a dealbreaker for some people, but I like him...reminds me of G04 a little....Drummer is cool...he's basically always doing fills....

It's the last track on the album, probably for good reason: It's great, but you need to have bought into their sound already to want to hear Ounsworth tunelessly shouting "child stars" over and over. Try "Details of the War" for the Dylan-y thing, or "Over and Over Again" or "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" for the catchy indie-rock thing.

(Yes realize irony of "use your words" dude twice resorting to "thing," thx.)

Same thing with the "sloppiness" of the playing. Yes, it's a tired word; yes, they're not sloppier than, say, Sebadoh, or Pavement circa S&E; but the references they seem to wear on their sleeves - Talking Heads, the Smiths, etc - are all quite tight and precise-sounding bands; in that sense, CYHSY appear to be trying for something and failing, as opposed to not giving a fuck.

And yet, I keep wanting to hear "Is This Love?". So they might be on to something.

so yr saying you know the sloppiness is planned? maybe they can't play for shit. it happens.

"The music is great, the vocals are grate."

I'm completely knocked out. The album is mostly strong tracks. It catches me in the same place as last year's Modest Mouse album. Does anyone know if has been released in Britain?

I've noticed people saying that CYHSY sound like this and that band. Well I've been big on the Pixes and Modest Mouse recently and I feel CYHSY fit well with those bands.

hahahoho. this album is pretty good. don't know why except playa hatin people be so vitrolic in their hostility. doesn't sound like talking heads or neutral milk hotel really just front to back manic indie jams, done in ultimate self-released d.i.y. spirit ostensibly people appreciate

because the feelies were actually GOOD?

http://66.186.18.80/podcast/mp3/mb/mb050916Clap_Your_Hands_Say_.mp3

Granted, maybe the point of the Clap Your Hands album is to be kinda slow, somber, and self-wallowing. That's my problem with the Clap album.. I can't tell if they're trying to be dynamic, or they're trying to be sad, or upbeat, or whatever at any given moment. They fail in all cases. Metal Machine Music has almost as much dynamic range as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

I'm hoping for a better sophomore album.

Defying the conventional logic that a band will do infinitely better if it has a record deal, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are proving that a truly independent artist can gain a major following. Clap -- based in Brooklyn and Philadelphia -- have already sold nearly 17,000 copies of their self-released debut, all thanks to word of mouth. And while major-label artists make only about a buck a record, the Clap guys are making a whopping eight dollars per disc -- putting their take so far at more than $130,000. Not too shabby for an album recorded for less than ten grand and distributed by the band itself via countless trips to the post office.

man...damn...17,000...that ain't bad...not too shabby....

This is funny from the RS thing:

Not too shabby for an album recorded for less than ten grand

WOW YOU RECORDED AN ALBUM FOR LESS THAN 10 THOUSAND $$ WOW THAT'S INDIE!

Jeez they must've gone to a pro studio or somethin' that's expensive...

Perhaps nine thousand went toward pitch correction and chamomile tea. Ooh, snap!

My new band's current record will probaby come out around $1000-ish for recording/tape....maybe another 3-500 for mastering and another 1000 for pressing 1000 discs....and I feel like we're being kind of indulgent in terms of wasting lots of time in the studio, etc...

The voice is what does it for me. So, I can see how if you didn't like the voice, you wouldn't like the band.

mainly by word of mouth??? hahaha
you mean PITCHFORK's MOUTH

This Clor talk proves to me that what repels you about CYHSY is all the hype, or what this band represents to you, and has nothing to do with music.

Donut you do bring up a good point. The album isn't exactly dynamic. It's like a monochromatic paint job. But if you're looking for dynamic, why even approach the indie rock genre, y'know?

I actually don't think that $10K is that extravagant. My band just spent a few thousand. (I don't remember exactly how much: they wisely don't put me in charge of the finances.)

what's a "few" i could see like 5K but 10K is quite a bit (to me at least)....i guess it maybe depends on what city you live in too...where are you?

You apparently forget the 'has a shitty singer whose throat you would happily rip out' factor about Get Your Clap Right Here.

haha

It also has to do with the fact that Clor is about a gazillion times more interesting. Clor's relative weakness is the voice and lyrics -- which reminds me a bit of the Clap singer!, except not nearly as grating... but the Clor's music really couldn't be any further away a progression than that of Clap. I mean Clor's "Outlines" is the first "indie rock" song that basically acknowledges the genius of Severed Heads' Come Visit The Big Bigot as a template for a pop song, whether they intended it or not. It's finally happened at long last! Clap's songs just remind me of many things that could have been, but did not be.

Donut you do bring up a good point. The album isn't exactly dynamic. It's like a monochromatic paint job. But if you're looking for dynamic, why even approach the indie rock genre, y'know?

I
can't
believe
I
just
read
that

INDIE = GRAYSCALE!

Plus, like I said earlier, the vocals that people seem to point out as making it annoying, is what gives it that extra something for me. I don't think anyone could by annoyed by the vocals with Clor, but they definitley aren't interesting and add nothing to the overall effect.

As far as Wilderness, it's just crap.

Why, exactly?

Because if it's just some generic indie fuck, I doubt it would really grab me. It sounds more unique. No different than the fact that a Morrissey cover by anyone other than Morrissey somehow sounds like shit. I don't even mind that he sounds like David Byrne, because the music doesn't sound like Talking Heads, so it's not exactly rehashing.

It's definitley a risk to sing in a voice that could easily be labeled as annoying, but I think it's a risk worth taking if it adds character to the music for people who actually aren't annoyed by it. If that makes sense.

But, it's important to note, that I'm merely stating that this is an enjoyable record. In a couple of months, it might just be collecting dust. Just wanted to counter a little of the hate.

The reasoning's a bit circular but I see what you're trying to get at. But surely you don't need the 'labeled as' part, if you get my drift. ;-)

I mean, I enjoy Gunnar's voice in Bless and Dr. Gunni. I like Jad Fair's voice. I like Doc Dart's voice in the Crucifucks. I like Nardwuar's voice in the Evaporators. All of those voices are "grating", but who finds them endearing and who finds them annoying and horrible is just pure random chance based on the listener's taste.

the music was OK, but the singers voice, to echo comments upthread, was kind of whiny and unlikeable.

Honestly, I really did not expect much--the record is pretty flavorless--but I hoped for at least some enjoyment out of the night.

I think what parched my perspective of the ordeal is that Alec as a frontman appeared to be such an asshole. Call it judgment, but *I* felt nothing endearing about his presence, which is why his cry *might* have worked for me. That's why odd-to-the-ear voices work, because they have character, or reality, or conviction, or any slightly redeeming quality. But Ounsworth's sort of pompous attitude caused his delivery to resonate as the most noisome drivel...
By the end of the set I was enough with the monotony and had to walk out of the performance area.

I mean, this is just my view, maybe the distate was of some psychological disconnection that caused me inability to endure. But I don't think I'll be supporting anything more of the Yeah platitude.

more disappointed testimonials, please.

I am going to see them tonight in ::shudder::: Brooklyn. Anyone else going?

C'mon!

Seriously, am I going to want to eat a grenade at this show at take huge swathes of the crowd out with me?

I wonder how many people Alex will take with him.

"It was horrible...bloody headbands everywhere."

I still love the first album. I gave the second one too many fruitless chances out of respect for the first.

Take the crowd out, Alex, but save yourself. We like you.

my girlfriend went said it was a bipolar thing, loved some songs, BORED next 2

Ugh.

Note to self: don't post on ILM after I end a job. What a spaz I was (is). No regrets about the Sonic Boom story and the "For Every 20 Backlashers" theory...

Alex, if it's any comfort, the Clap Your Hands album from this year sounded much better than the first one. It sounds more Tall Dwarfs-y. Or maybe the singer is now undulating in that Chris Knox/pop-ero Eno frequency that makes it sound rad. Shrug.

they are TERRIBLE live, this from someone who likes them.

Actually quite enjoyed it. Should you care, <a href="http://vassifer.blogs.com/alexinnyc/2007/11/clap-your-hands.html";>you can read all about it</a>.

Whoops, let's try that again: click here to read my review-of-sorts.

Alex, if it's any comfort, the Clap Your Hands album from this year sounded much better than the first one. It sounds more Tall Dwarfs-y. Or maybe the singer is now undulating in that Chris Knox/pop-ero Eno frequency that makes it sound rad. Shrug.

-- Mackro Mackro, Thursday, November 15, 2007 6:01 PM

I liked their first album a lot and was disappointed by the second. That said, of the handful of other albums I bought this year which I'd describe as "disappointing," Some Loud Thunder is the one I keep returning to. There is something about it...

they are TERRIBLE live, this from someone who likes them.

-- sean gramophone, Thursday, November 15, 2007 2:47 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Link

yea i saw them last year at central park, they sucked. but that venue's kinda tough i guess.

i'm gonna see these ppl tomorrow

their debut was so good u_u

Wank Your Dick Say Pitchforkmedia

― Mickey (modestmickey)

"Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away"
"Details of the War"
"In This Home on Ice"
"Gimmie Some Salt"

listened to the first album again, and these songs still sound like classics to me.

too bad the band never went anywhere with this stripped down sound.

the second album was a huge disappointment for me.

should i trust all the rust that's on tv, y'all!

http://pitchfork.com/news/42577-clap-your-hands-say-yeah-announce-new-album/

New album streaming at Luisterpaal if anyone at all still cares about these guys.

was listening to bits & pieces of the s/t like, yesterday

the first record is genuinely good, i don't even know if i ever made it through all of some loud thunder, but i really like the title track

There are actually a couple good songs on this new one, I like "Into Your Alien Arms".

Aghhhh. Couldn't get through it. Was really hoping for a return to form--couldn't do the second album, either, but the s/t was really something to me back when it came out. Next time around, maybe.

Was any of the solo/side stuff they did worth hearing?