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Clap Your Hands Say Yeah / Hysterical from CYHSY on Vimeo.
The long-awaited third album from the Indie rockers. The album was produced by John Congleton, who has also worked with Modest Mouse, Black Mountain, the Walkmen and many others.
It’s six years since the release of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah‘s self-titled debut, where we first heard the distinctive high-pitched voice of Alec Ounsworth and the slightly angular, possibly even nerdy sound of the Brooklynites. Their second album went OTT on the angular bits and often came off as if they’d joined a circus and run away so it was with a sideways, sheepish glance we looked at their third LP, Hysterical.
The sounds that CSHSY have been playing with over the last six or so years have been reined in and rounded a bit more, and they still let the drums and bass lead much of the songs. The music itself has come back from the fringes, back even past where their first popular album stood to a sound throughout that’s so easy to love. Any lulls on the album are swiftly dealt with – the second quarter seems to drag a little especially after the intro hat-trick and ‘Yesterday, Never’ is a meaty, pounding track which lifts us wide-awake into the second half.
The album is full of catchy melodies, those clever turns of phrase (and there’s plenty) and changes of chord so interest never really wanes and before you know it you’re at the beautiful closing track ‘Adam’s Plane’ which could also work as a Rufus Wainwright twist on a destructive love. It’s an ideal closer to an album that flows almost flawlessly through its 12 tracks. Reinvented somewhat and standing firm on new ground CYHSY’s Hysterical is smart, super addictive and it pulses along effortlessly. Their third and best comes highly recommended.
