Fifteen

Issue date: 10/11/06 Section: Student Life

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's Alec Ounsworth croons into the mic

On a recent Tuesday night Laura Dansingani '08 and I headed over to Avalon to catch the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah show. Most people I told of my plan to see the band responded with "clap your hands say what?" To clarify, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (CYHSY, for short) is a five-person band from Brooklyn and Philadelphia that is part of the indie music scene that seems to be finding its way onto mainstream radio. So, yeah, even my mother has heard of this band. CYHSY is of particular interest as an up-and-coming band because their entire buzz has been built up online. Shortly after releasing their first album without the promotion of a record label, they were reviewed favorably on PitchforkMedia.com, an indie music website that is one of my daily internet stops, and their popularity has built since then. The effectiveness of this non-promotion campaign was clear on Tuesday night, as the floor of the Avalon ballroom was packed.
Laura and I arrived early enough to check out the opening band, Architecture in Helsinki, a sweet little group from Australia. Most of their songs combine electronic sounds with horns and various percussion instruments, such as the glockenspiel, and a woodblock. They had a fervent fan base in the crowd and closed out their performance with a particularly rocking version of "Do the Whirlwind." You should download it - the song is peppy enough to make the walk to your 8:30 am class seem enjoyable.
After a painfully long lag between sets, CYHSY came on. The crowd was mostly full of die-hard fans that knew every song lyric, though interspersed throughout were groups who were not as familiar and had come to see one of the openers. CYHSY played nearly every tune from their 12-song album and a few new ones as well. CYHSY is very upbeat, using mostly traditional rock band instruments, while relying fairly heavily on tech-y keyboard sounds. The lead singer, Alec Ounsworth, has a high-pitched, slightly whiny voice, but somehow it seems to work. Most of the songs came off much better live than off the album, and their version of "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" (reminds you of your cousin Ralph in West Virginia, right?), had most of the crowd hopping like they were ready for a hoe-down.
Following the performances, members of both bands signed shirts and posters out in the lobby, and I am now the proud owner of an Architecture in Helsinki shirt, while Laura can be seen around E51 sporting a light green CYHSY t-shirt. It was a great show, and I highly recommend seeing out both bands live.

Check it out: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah will play Hammerstein Ballroom in New York on New Year's Eve.

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