Just one year ago the band’s demise seemed inevitable during a show during the CBGB Festival in Times Square, shortly after it was announced that Robbie Guertin was leaving the band along with twin brothers Lee and Tyler Sargent. That left vocalist Alec Ounsworth and drummer Sean Greenhaulgh (also a multi-instrumentalist and music producer) to either pick up the pieces or continue their solo projects, as dabbled in over the years since the band began.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah met while students at Connecticut College and self-released their self-titled debut album when it was unheard of doing so in the spring of 2005. It didn’t hurt that Ounsworth’s vocals recalled David Byrne’s neurotic urgency and the band offered blurry, complex but interesting songs with a danceable vibe. Using that initial buzz across the internet, the band continued to corner the indie rock market with 2007’s Some Loud Thunder and 2011’s Hysterical.
A week ago, a cryptic tweet by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah told fans “very interesting news coming very soon” before the July 22 release of four songs, along with some tour dates for the fall (see below). As detailed on the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Facebook page, the tracks were created in Ounsworth’s Philadelphia home studio. There are two A-sides from the new album (although not final mixes, the band plans to work with Dave Fridmann of Flaming Lips and MGMT fame again for that process) along with two B-sides. From the pulsing synth intro of “Little Moments” to the conversational snippets that gives way to a dance beat in “Only Run”, it seems Clap Your Hands Say Yeah has maintained that frenetic sound that could still border on joy. The two B-sides, “Heaven” and “Once”, are spacey jams that easily bring the band back to life.
Link to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s Bandcamp page to take a listen and order up the EP along with other merch here.
TRACK LIST
1. Little Moments (EP Version)
2. Only Run (EP Version)
3. Heaven (B-side)
4. Once (B-side)
TOUR DATES
8/1 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
9/24 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
9/26 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland (w/ Stars)
9/27 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
9/28 – Toronto, ONT @ Lee’s
9/29 – Montreal, ONT @ Cabaret Mile-End
10/1 – Boston, MA @ Middle East
10/2 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
10/5 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club