Wednesday 13 December 2006

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

The first thing that struck me was this bands name. I conjured up images of a holy and religious black minister rallying the congregation. The second thing was the singers very nasal whiney voice. At first it was strange and ever so slightly annoying, with me thinking "it has got to grow on me at SOME point - Surely!"

Having endured the first track which is like a "roll up, roll up" circus music, I was scared. Having forced myself to sit through it I found myself slowly being captured by this very imaginitive and creative debut album.

With the exception of a couple of songs, the lyrics are very random and I'd be surprised if someone knew what it was about. For example, Alec sings:

I heard it from a friend
The Revolution never happened
Sigh
A little die
No more a child
Goodbye

It sometimes seems that certain lines rhymes were only made that way so he could use his voice to drag out the whines. This is not a criticism as what makes this album for me is not the lyrics, or the wailing voice, but the rhythm, riffs and melodic, quirkily catchy tunes that this group has created.

Is This Love? is an upbeat track, great backing vocals, and simply brilliant riffs. Heavy Metal starts with a riff and is joined by a harmonica with a bass-line taking over shortly after. There are no weak songs (apart from the horrible intro, if you could call it a song) and shows that the band has more than just one trick.



If you can bear putting up with the wailing, then give this album a go. I imagine you could split the nation on his voice, I just hope you can have some faith long enough for it to make an impression.


Clap Your Hands Say Yeah website: www.clapyourhandssayyeah.com
Myspace Page: www.myspace.com/clapyourhandssayyeah

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