Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Some Loud Thunder
Wichita Recordings


It's not going too far to suggest that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah made quite a splash when they hit the scene back in 2005. Their debut album garnered rave reviews from all the right sources and the group were quickly hailed as that year's great-indie-hope. So whichever way you look at it, a backlash against the band was pretty much inevitable - there's always going to be that kind of thing against over-hyped bands, whether or not they deserved the attention in the first place, or deserve the subsequent scorn. Unfortunately, the band aren't doing much to dispel this kind of critical reaction - 'Some Loud Thunder' is hardly the worst album of the year, but it's certainly one of the most underwhelming so far.

There are two exceptions: Satan Said Dance operates at Architecture In Helsinki levels of irritating, and the intentionally badly produced title track is a complete pain to listen to. It's uncomfortable for the sake of unconformity, with no trace of artistic validity, and immediately puts listeners on the back foot. What's the message? That we're not meant to enjoy this?

While that kind of production doesn't continue, the work of Dave Fridmann - best known for his work with the Flaming Lips - is far too overblown for the band's sound, and removes a lot of the intimacy that should be present. As a result, there's nothing that feels remarkable in any way; it's terribly monotonous and feels too unrefined for the most part, as if the band was too hasty to record and didn't put enough thought into structure, melody, restraint, emotion and all the other things that make an album worth listening to. With a little more time and a more suitable producer, 'Some Loud Thunder' might have something remarkable - as it is, it's entirely forgettable.

Alistair Wallace