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Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

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Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
I remember playing the first track off of Brooklyn-via-Philly's Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's debut album, a circus-sounding affair à la "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" Anyways, I was playing it for a friend and he had the headphones on listening & he couldn't help but giggle... That's the feeling Clap Your Hands Say Yeah give you. It was a lasting memory. In fact 2005 (the year their debut came out) as a whole was a lasting memory I was fifteen & really starting to get into independent music. Clap Your Hands was truly the first band to get famous off of blogs & the internet hype. There is a story about when Clap Your Hands were opening for The National, & after reviews came out of their first album, more people were coming for the opener than the headliner for that tour. And for good reason. Rarely does an album come out & hit you right away on a personal level but also have the critics recognize its genius & flawlessness. There have been very few bands that have landed so well right away. With strong catchy songs & vocals from Alec Ounsworth, singing that is so distinct, you're either gonna' love' it or hate it, sorta' like Bob Dylan. Clap Your Hands were set to be indie darlings. Drummer Sean Greenhalgh was the only consistent member throughout their run, until 2014, when the band kinda' came to a crumble and now it's Ounsworth's one-man-project. But again, his vocals really do carry this project. The band has treated us with five albums: 2005's Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, 2007's more difficult and challenging but just as rewarding Some Loud Thunder, 2011's Hysterical, 2014's Only Run, and 2017's The Tourist. Although you'll find some strong tracks throughout (especially on Some Loud Thunder and Hysterical) the band, or what's left of (t)him, will unlikely ever capture that magic they were able to capture on that first album, which is more than a lot of bands can say. It only takes one classic album to become legends: Look at the Sex Pistols. I feel lucky I was there for that magical buzz in 2005 when this band landed. That's all it took for me to become a life long fan of this band... It's...
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!

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