CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH
Some Loud Thunder
Wichita
· Ah, the plight of the hype band.
In early 2006, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (CYHSY) could do no wrong. Blog darlings and indie dance party heroes all at once, "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" felt almost ubiquitous. It was easy to dream that the mantle of Talking Heads freak-dance-rock was soon to pass on to someone deserving of it. Funny how by the end of the year, the backlash seemed in full swing – suddenly their live shows were the "worst thing I saw all year." Their self-titled debut album easily edited down to the "hits" for one's iPod.
And so comes Some Loud Thunder, undeniably touched with a sense of rushed composition, maybe even a dash of panic. The lovely harmonies of "Emily Jean Stock" can't make up for the callow, tuneless dance-punk of "Satan Said Dance." David Byrne might want to consider legal action for "Mama, Won't You Keep Those Castles in the Sky & Burning?" – whether or not he's been known to pop up at CYHSY gigs now and then.
Next to the subpar songwriting, the weakest link in Some Loud Thunder is Alec Ounsworth's vocals. Even on their debut's weakest songs, Ounsworth's delivery made up in passion what the band lacked in polish. Here, however, he approaches the vocal qualities of Destroyer's Dan Bejar so closely, much of the album comes off as samples from Bejar's delete bin. I've only got enough room in my heart to love one Destroyer, thanks, and at least in the case of Some Loud Thunder, the real one's definitely got the better songs.
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