BLOWIN' INDIE WIND

Author: BEN GOLZE

I first heard of "Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!" this summer when my editor leaned over from his desk and handed the CD to me in one of those "Hey, you'll dig this" type moments that tend to dominate how I find out about new music. The Brooklyn quintet self-released their self-titled debut album in early June, but, as tends to happens with self-releases, their success was confined largely to the Internet. The accumulation of critical acclaim over the course of the summer, however, has prompted massive re-shipments during this past month, which fortunately makes this column appear more relevant than it probably is.

In any case, when I popped the CD into my computer in early August and listened to the first track, I experienced, as you probably will, a "What is this?" kind of moment. Simple synths and plinking percussion back the warbling vocals of Alec Ounsworth. The whole thing, aptly titled "Clap Your Hands!," sounds like the introduction to some maniacal circus act. It is only on the second listen of the album that you will say "This is the coolest intro to the coolest album from the coolest band that I have heard in a long, long time."

Ounsworth's voice is the most immediately unique thing about "Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!" His vocals most closely approximate those of Hamilton Leithauser, the frontman for the Walkmen, if you could say they sound like anything that you have heard before. Ounsworth swings and glides throughout the album, a sound most prominent on "Over and Over Again (Lost and Found)."

His standout moment, though, occurs on the album's best song, "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth." Ounsworth's voice, laid over a stomping bass line and drums, ratchets up the song's tension during each verse until the song releases the guitars in a brief jam that sounds straight out of a Modest Mouse song. Swirling synths segue directly into the next song "Is This Love?," which features some of the best songwriting on the album. The rest of the band provides back-up for Ounsworth during the whirlwind choruses, when their harmonizing vocals churn and whorl over a rolling bass drum.

Many critics have attempted, or perhaps struggled, to identify influences on "Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!" Quite a few have pointed out 80's alt-rock groups such as the Talking Heads, and I might be able to buy that they sound like The Cure at the end of "Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away." However, only specific parts of specific songs can be easily distinguished, such as the spacious, echoing vocals on "Details of the War" (Belle and Sebastian), and the crunching, fizzy guitars on "Heavy Metal" (Neutral Milk Hotel, sort of). An extremely cheery version of the Arcade Fire is probably as close as you are going to get.

But ignore that, because such comparisons are unfair to the band's unique sound, which is remarkably consistent for an independent debut album. Besides the intro, "Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!" drastically branches out on two instrumentals, "Blue Turning Gray," a brief interlude consisting of two sleepy acoustic guitars with a hidden flute, and the playful "Sunshine and Clouds (And Everything Proud)."

I could end this review by saying something stupid, such as "While this album may not make you actually clap your hands, you will say 'yeah!.'" I could also write how great it is that a fantastic band armed with a self-released album and no promotion managed to break into the independent music scene in such a big way. But I won't. Instead, I'll just say this: listen to "Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!" You won't be sorry.