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!

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?