Some Loud Thunder

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – a band that gave birth to a myth

The last two years proved to be really successful for unknown until some definite moment of time Brooklyn’s band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Thinking of nothing really seriously or, maybe on the contrary thinking too seriously about something, they have self released, self distributed and self advertised in autumn of 2005. Disproving all the rules of show business their debut album started it’s massive spread in the Internet with the speed of the most sinister virus and this has finely led to 200 thousand copies sold and loud, positive responses from the key musical editions. The Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s story itself gave raise to a whole bunch of pronouncements about independency of Internet users from labels’ PR actions and became an incarnation of hopes for crowds of bands yet unsigned to any label. But, as everybody knows, everything has to pass a test of time and if it all happened due to a true talent it means that the following band’s records will have the same success and sales results. If it will turn out to be an occasional spark of interest then we will see not only another band falling into oblivion but also the fall of Internet democracy idea and ruins of unknown bands’ air castles. The suppositions about what can Clap Your Hands Say Yeah undertake for their sophomore album is a pretty rhetorical question. But taking to consideration that the band’s desperate attempt has been crowned with success and that their vocalist Alec Ounsworth treats public opinion with disdain, it is not hard to suppose that the band will try to repeat their debut album.

Some Loud Thunder sounds more diverse, even and mature

So, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have finally released their second album Some Loud Thunder. Just like it was expected the album is made in already characteristic for this band manner and features all the necessary elements: shaggy rhythm section, cracked and twang voice and melodies reach with various ideas. But still the difference between the albums presents and it is quite obvious: Some Loud Thunder sounds more diverse, even and mature. And despite its loss of some part of spontaneous energy Some Loud Thunder turns out to be a worthy follow up. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah decided to make an irregular start for the album, the first song is having such a low quality of sound that it can make you think that something goes wrong with your speakers when you play it, but the album begins to sound in full measures right from the second track. A half acoustic Emily Jean Stock could perfectly fit the place of the starting song as its general mood reminds a prolog to the entire album. In a way Some Loud Thunder sounds more ironically than its predecessor, particularly the songs Satan Said Dance and Yankee Go Home may serve as a good confirmation. But the album also contains some more serious compositions. For example a beautifully arranged Goodbye To Mother And Cove offers a little bit sad atmosphere and modest Love Song No.7 shows that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are going keep their career going.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – generator for ideas

Some Loud Thunder may serve as a subject for a big dispute. On one hand one can’t say that this album became a better variant of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. On the other, the band has achieved good results here too: the songs demonstrate their professional growth. Overall both of the albums are approximately equal but this goes with only one amendment: Some Loud Thunder was supposed to be something bigger. The album is having all chances to become a new step to popularity, there are good and interesting songs here, but the only thing it really lacks is a hit song. It seems like the band is trying to squeeze all the ideas they have into a limited number of songs. The thing that saved this album from a ruin is that these very ideas are actually good ones. And if there are the ideas then it is worth developing them. A situation when a person speaks about his absence of interest in public opinion is doubtful by default. It is simple to hide behind it in the case of failure, which is really easy to run across, especially when your ideas are represented naked and unelaborated. This draws a following conclusion: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have a great potential and if they will cast the euphoria of the first big success aside and will get down to business, the progress, in all senses of this word, is guaranteed.