Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Some Loud Thunder : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Two years ago, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah went from unknown Brooklyn-Philly quintet to indie-rock sensations with their debut album, an exuberantly arty thing that doubled as a great summer pop record. Compared to that, Some Loud Thunder is a disappointment: Less energetic and more all-over-the-place, it's ramshackle rock full of drones and jangles that crest and hum, with Alec Ounsworth splashing his warbly David Byrne alto around like cheap paint.

The good bits are really good: Dig the goose-bump-raising refrain on "Yankee Go Home" and the Sixties-pop meets Yankee Hotel Foxtrot of "Emily Jean Stock." But as cool and comfy as their shambolic sound can be, the songs aren't completely there: Tunes like "Goodbye to Mother and the Cove" are all atmospherics and not much else. Some Loud Thunder will do as a place holder, but that's about it.