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December 11, 2006
Works in Progress, vol. 4 - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
For those of you who do not spend all day reading music blogs, the following can still be received as new news. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah announced a release date for the follow up to last year's most written about record. Some Loud Thunder will be released on 1.30.07 and will drop once again without a label backing the group. Supercharged indie backlash will be working against the group's sophomore effort. Possibly guided by the same tastemakers that allegedly put the group on the map. Furthering a comment made by Ryan on this post, I implore listeners to form their own judgements. Don't rely on subscriptions to the "cool consensus" for absolute guidance on your playlist choices. Pointless snark like this drives me batty.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Satan Said Dance (Black Session 1.31.06)
CYHSY audiences of the past year and half (which includes practically everyone who has ever seen CYHSY) should be familiar with this song. The keyboard manipulation is asylum crazy. Not crazy in the sense of extraordinary technical ability, but more the schizophrenic, acid-trip accommodating crazy. Soaring, crashing and disappearing. Notes bending and fading, much like Ounsworth's love it or hate it vocal signature, or perhaps the spooky waves of a theremin. A four on the floor bass line monotonously keeps zombie like time while guitars add to the squabble. I think its pretty great. Shout outs to the devil are fun.*
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Satan Said Dance
In less than two years CYHSY grew from demure torch bearers of the new school DIY, to the tenuous distinction of being the world's biggest unsigned band. The most pronounced evolution has been a confidence oozing from the stage that only road tested bands can own. Onstage, singer Alec Ounsworth replaced fragile skittishness with a not-quite-a-sneer snicker. Counterbalancing the sure-footedness of Ounsworth is Robbie Guertin's toddler-like, energetic stage presence. For harmony in terms of vocals, Guertin's backup input softens Ounsworth's nasal inflection on lines like "He says to me to shake around and don't stop till you hit the ground." "He," is the devil, forcing our heroes into an eternal battle-dance.
The basic structure of Some Lound Thunder's "Satan Said Dance" is kept the same from the live version. This recording keeps the neurosis level at frantic, but pulls back the meds for a full bandwidth hit of unsettling, jittery beeps. Not unlike what R2D2 would sound like if he suffered a torturous execution and laid disemboweled among an amplified plane. A more distinct guitar presence also emerges, but studio clarity may be the reason.
Alec Ounsworth - Underwater (You and Me) (Solo Demo)
Like an 80s lounge act stretching vocal tone to fit a tropical vibe, this early demo sounds like a muzak-mimicking CYHSY (circa - debut album) pining for the happy hour guests at a tacky Caribbean bar. I know what you are thinking. "Mr. Swankster, you have a mislabeled Baby Dayliner song attributed to Alec Ounsworth". Sometimes untruths say a lot, in this instance is says it all.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Underwater (You and Me)
Melody is the only thing left alone in this radical departure from the demo recording. Vocals have been pushed back and multi-layered for a choral effect. Gone are the quick strumming chords of the demo, which would have found a comfortable home on the debut disk between "Is This Love" and "In This Home on Ice". Omitted chords replaced by tambourine and shakers fill out the spatial sonics. The exclusion does not leave an empty sounding song, however. The opening invites the bassline to provide forward guidance. Right now I hear too much busy. Will have to check back in a few months to see if the listening experience evolves as much as the music did.
* Under no circumstances will there be an apology to Mötley Crüe.
Tour dates after the jump.
//Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - site
//Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Myspace
New Years and beyond.
12.31.06: New York City, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
02.02.07: Manchester, England - Academy*
02.03.07: Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowlands*
02.04.07: Birmingham, England - Academy*
02.06.07: Cologne, Germany - Gebaeude 9*
02.07.07: Brussels, Belgium - AB Club*
02.08.07: Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Paradiso*
02.09.07: Berlin, Germany - Postbanhof*
02.11.07: Hamburg, Germany - Kunst*
02.12.07: Paris, France - La Cigalle*
02.13.07: London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire*
*w/ Cold War Kids and Elvis Perkins (named best album of 2006 by Yeti.)
Posted by Merry Swankster at December 11, 2006 09:52 AM
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