Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

With MPs and blogs disseminating and then commenting on new music at a nearly instantaneous rate, young bands can find themselves thrust into the spotlight before the ink on their discs is even dry. The self-released debut by Brooklyn's Clap Your Hands Say Yeah -- with no label or publicist...

By Jason Heller

August 18, 2005

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With MPs and blogs disseminating and then commenting on new music at a nearly instantaneous rate, young bands can find themselves thrust into the spotlight before the ink on their discs is even dry. The self-released debut by Brooklyn's Clap Your Hands Say Yeah -- with no label or publicist behind it -- is selling out across the country, a scenario that the Arcade Fire faced a couple years ago with its inaugural EP. And while Clap Your Hands has carved out a cute, if wooden, mockup of a Walkmen/ Arcade Fire hybrid, it hasn't managed to fill this Pinocchio with any real heart, hooks or soul. Not to say that the quintet's flailing energy fails to charm, or that singer/guitarist Alec Ounsworth's vocals don't drip with coy enthusiasm and a fetchingly unclad insecurity that recalls David Byrne at his nerdy best. No doubt these twelve songs hint at great things to come -- assuming that all the applause Clap Your Hands garners doesn't end up drowning out the music itself.

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