Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Encyclopedia
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (often abbreviated CYHSY) is an American
indie rock
group based in Brooklyn, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. Their debut album, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
, was self-released in 2005.
, formed in the beginning of 2004 and played shows in Manhattan
and Brooklyn
. They are notable for achieving their initial fame and commercial success via the internet rather than through a record label
. Shortly after the release of their first album, they received attention from numerous MP3 blog
s and a favorable review from Pitchfork Media
, who gave the band a "Best New Music" commendation. The ensuing demand for the album was so great that the band was forced to repress the CD, as the initial production run was too small. They garnered even more press after David Bowie
and David Byrne
were spotted at some of the band's shows in 2005.
On October 3, 2005, they were signed to Wichita Recordings
in the UK.
The band members live in Brooklyn, with the exception of Ounsworth who lives in Philadelphia.
The band released their second album, Some Loud Thunder
on January 29, 2007, in the UK
, and January 30, 2007, in the United States. Alec Ounsworth has said that he plans to professionally record some of his older songs for a solo release before moving CYHSY onward.
On September 18, 2007, Live at Lollapalooza 2007: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
was released on iTunes
. It features the band's complete live set from Lollapalooza
, professionally recorded on August 4, 2007.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah appeared in the 2008 film, The Great Buck Howard.
On January 21, 2009, it was reported that CYHSY abandoned plans to head to the studio to record their third full-length album, and are "taking a break" while the band members pursue side projects. The public hiatus was to take official effect after the band performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
on February 13, 2009, however, on March 4, they performed a new song on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
, titled "Statues". The hiatus was later disproved when the band was signed on to headline the University of Texas in Austin's 40 Acres Fest in April 2009. It was reported the band were working with producer John Congleton at Water Music in New Jersey on the long awaited third album.
Alec Ounsworth
released his solo debut, Mo Beauty
, in late 2009 while concurrently releasing Skin and Bones
, the debut album with his other band Flashy Python
. Robbie and Tyler have been playing in another project called Uninhabitable Mansions, along with Annie Hart from Au Revoir Simone
. They have released a 7 inch and also an album, titled Nature Is a Taker. Robbie also plays drums in another band, Radical Dads.
Recently drummer Sean Greenhalgh has been producing records for a number of bands including Takka Takka
, Conversion Party, Sam Izdat, Radial Dads, and Tom McBride.
In 2008, Lee and Tyler Sargent performed on James Lavino
's score to the Alex Karpovsky
film Woodpecker. The soundtrack also featured performances by Radiohead
bass player Colin Greenwood
.
May 2011 brought news the third album, reassuring fans that they had not broken up. Scheduled to be released in September 2011, the album will be titled Hysterical, and will be produced by John Congleton. It was announced via a post on the band's official website with a video of the band rehearsing a few new songs from the album in the studio. The release date for Hysterical was announced to be September 20 for the US and September 12 for the UK. A track from the forthcoming album can be downloaded for free on their official website. A vinyl reissue of a remastered edition of the first album, to be released on June 14, was also announced.
A music video for "Maniac" was made by Belgian director Pieter Dirkx
. It was released on September 14, 2011.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
group based in Brooklyn, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. Their debut album, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (album)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is the debut album by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, self-released in the U.S. in 2005, and released in the UK on 23 January 2006 by Wichita Recordings. Produced and mixed by Adam Lasus, the album and the band rose to fame after buzz and attention built up on various MP3 blogs...
, was self-released in 2005.
History
The band, whose members met years earlier at Connecticut CollegeConnecticut College
Connecticut College is a private liberal arts college located in New London, Connecticut.The college was founded in 1911, as Connecticut College for Women, in response to Wesleyan University closing its doors to women...
, formed in the beginning of 2004 and played shows in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. They are notable for achieving their initial fame and commercial success via the internet rather than through a record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
. Shortly after the release of their first album, they received attention from numerous MP3 blog
MP3 blog
An MP3 blog is a type of blog in which the creator makes music files, normally in the MP3 format, available for download. They are also known as "musicblogs" or "audioblogs". MP3 blogs have become increasingly popular since 2003...
s and a favorable review from Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
, who gave the band a "Best New Music" commendation. The ensuing demand for the album was so great that the band was forced to repress the CD, as the initial production run was too small. They garnered even more press after David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
and David Byrne
David Byrne (musician)
David Byrne is a musician and artist, best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the American new wave band Talking Heads, which was active between 1975 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released his own solo recordings and worked with various media including film, photography,...
were spotted at some of the band's shows in 2005.
On October 3, 2005, they were signed to Wichita Recordings
Wichita Recordings
Wichita Recordings is an independent record label located in London, founded in 2000 by Mark Bowen and Dick Green. Its most notable signees are Bloc Party, The Cribs, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Her Space Holiday, Los Campesinos! and Peter Bjorn and John...
in the UK.
The band members live in Brooklyn, with the exception of Ounsworth who lives in Philadelphia.
The band released their second album, Some Loud Thunder
Some Loud Thunder
Some Loud Thunder is the second album by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, an indie rock band from Brooklyn. It was released on January 29, 2007, in the UK, and January 30 in the USA, but people who pre-ordered the album were able to legally download it from Insound starting January 16, 2007...
on January 29, 2007, in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and January 30, 2007, in the United States. Alec Ounsworth has said that he plans to professionally record some of his older songs for a solo release before moving CYHSY onward.
On September 18, 2007, Live at Lollapalooza 2007: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Live at Lollapalooza 2007: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Live at Lollapalooza 2007: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is a live album by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah recorded on August 4, 2007 at the Lollapalooza Music Festival at Grant Park in Chicago, IL.The album was released on iTunes on September 18, 2007...
was released on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
. It features the band's complete live set from Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
, professionally recorded on August 4, 2007.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah appeared in the 2008 film, The Great Buck Howard.
On January 21, 2009, it was reported that CYHSY abandoned plans to head to the studio to record their third full-length album, and are "taking a break" while the band members pursue side projects. The public hiatus was to take official effect after the band performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
on February 13, 2009, however, on March 4, they performed a new song on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon on NBC. The show premiered on March 2, 2009, as the third incarnation of the Late Night franchise originated by David Letterman....
, titled "Statues". The hiatus was later disproved when the band was signed on to headline the University of Texas in Austin's 40 Acres Fest in April 2009. It was reported the band were working with producer John Congleton at Water Music in New Jersey on the long awaited third album.
Alec Ounsworth
Alec Ounsworth
Alec Ounsworth is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and frontman of indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. He is also a member of The Pelican Picnic and Flashy Python...
released his solo debut, Mo Beauty
Mo Beauty
Mo Beauty is the debut album by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah frontman Alec Ounsworth. It was released October 20, 2009, on Anti- Records. In August 2009, Ounsworth released Skin and Bones as Flashy Python....
, in late 2009 while concurrently releasing Skin and Bones
Skin and Bones (Flashy Python album)
Skin and Bones is the debut album by Flashy Python. It appeared without any pre-release press on the band's official website, from where it is available for streaming, high-quality mp3 download, and purchase in physical form on CD or Vinyl.-Track listing:...
, the debut album with his other band Flashy Python
Flashy Python
Flashy Python is a project by Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Their debut album, Skin and Bones, was self-released in 2009.-History:Skin and Bones was released on August 11, 2009 to absolutely no pre-release press...
. Robbie and Tyler have been playing in another project called Uninhabitable Mansions, along with Annie Hart from Au Revoir Simone
Au Revoir Simone
Au Revoir Simone is an electronic dream pop band from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, formed in late 2003. The group is composed of Erika Forster , Annie Hart , and Heather D'Angelo...
. They have released a 7 inch and also an album, titled Nature Is a Taker. Robbie also plays drums in another band, Radical Dads.
Recently drummer Sean Greenhalgh has been producing records for a number of bands including Takka Takka
Takka Takka
Takka Takka is a band from Brooklyn, New York that has been performing since 2006 and whose members include Gabe Levine, Conrad Doucette, Rene Planchon and and Craig Montoro ....
, Conversion Party, Sam Izdat, Radial Dads, and Tom McBride.
In 2008, Lee and Tyler Sargent performed on James Lavino
James Lavino
James Lavino is an American composer, known especially for his choral music and his music for film and television.-Life and career:...
's score to the Alex Karpovsky
Alex Karpovsky
Alex Karpovsky is an American director, actor, screenwriter, producer and editor.Alex Karpovsky's first feature-length film, , was completed in 2006. The critically acclaimed dark comedy garnered numerous awards on the festival circuit before being released theatrically by Indiepix...
film Woodpecker. The soundtrack also featured performances by Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
bass player Colin Greenwood
Colin Greenwood
Colin Charles Greenwood , is an English musician and composer, best known as the bassist of the rock band Radiohead. Apart from bass, Colin plays keyboards, synthesizers and works on sampling on the electronic side of Radiohead...
.
May 2011 brought news the third album, reassuring fans that they had not broken up. Scheduled to be released in September 2011, the album will be titled Hysterical, and will be produced by John Congleton. It was announced via a post on the band's official website with a video of the band rehearsing a few new songs from the album in the studio. The release date for Hysterical was announced to be September 20 for the US and September 12 for the UK. A track from the forthcoming album can be downloaded for free on their official website. A vinyl reissue of a remastered edition of the first album, to be released on June 14, was also announced.
A music video for "Maniac" was made by Belgian director Pieter Dirkx
Pieter Dirkx
Pieter Dirkx is a Belgian film director and painter. His short film Bento Monogatari premiered in the Cinéfondation program at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.-Biography:...
. It was released on September 14, 2011.
Members
- Alec OunsworthAlec OunsworthAlec Ounsworth is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and frontman of indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. He is also a member of The Pelican Picnic and Flashy Python...
– guitar, vocals - Robbie GuertinRobbie GuertinRobbie Guertin is a keyboardist/guitarist/backup vocalist for the indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.He grew up in Belmont, Massachusetts and went to Belmont High School. He attended college at Connecticut College along with the other members of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah prior to the group's...
– guitar, keyboard, backing vocals - Lee SargentLee SargentLee Sargent is a keyboardist/guitarist/backup vocalist for the indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.He attended college at Connecticut College along with the other members of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and prior to the group's formation he produced the Canine Tricycle Bereavement record Backseat...
– guitar, keyboard, backing vocals - Tyler SargentTyler SargentTyler Sargent is the bassist and backing vocalist for the indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.He attended college at Connecticut College along with the other members of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah prior to the group's formation. He attended high school at Milton Academy...
– bass, backing vocals - Sean GreenhalghSean Greenhalgh (producer, musician)Sean Greenhalgh is a music producer and multi-instrumentalist best known as the drummer in the band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Sean is featured in The Warhol Economy: How Fashion Art & Music Drive New York City in regards to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's rise to blog fame in 2005.- External links :* *...
– drums, percussion
Albums
- 2005: Clap Your Hands Say YeahClap Your Hands Say Yeah (album)Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is the debut album by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, self-released in the U.S. in 2005, and released in the UK on 23 January 2006 by Wichita Recordings. Produced and mixed by Adam Lasus, the album and the band rose to fame after buzz and attention built up on various MP3 blogs...
(JPN #44, UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#26) - 2007: Some Loud ThunderSome Loud ThunderSome Loud Thunder is the second album by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, an indie rock band from Brooklyn. It was released on January 29, 2007, in the UK, and January 30 in the USA, but people who pre-ordered the album were able to legally download it from Insound starting January 16, 2007...
(USBillboard 200The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
#47, JPN #40, UK #45) - 2011: HystericalHysterical (album)Hysterical is the third album by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, released on September 12th in the UK, Europe, Japan, and Australia and September 20th in the U.S. The album is produced by John Congleton and features cover art designed by Maya Pindyck. The band released "Same Mistake" and "Maniac" as...
(UK #198)
Live albums
- 2007: Live at Lollapalooza 2007: Clap Your Hands Say YeahLive at Lollapalooza 2007: Clap Your Hands Say YeahLive at Lollapalooza 2007: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is a live album by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah recorded on August 4, 2007 at the Lollapalooza Music Festival at Grant Park in Chicago, IL.The album was released on iTunes on September 18, 2007...
(iTunes release)
Singles
- 2005: "Is This Love?Is This Love? (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah song)"Is This Love?" is a song by Brooklyn-based indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, from their eponymous debut album.On December 5, 2005, the song was released as a single in the United Kingdom by Wichita Recordings as the band's debut release outside of the United States...
" (UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#74) - 2006: "In This Home on IceIn This Home on Ice"In This Home on Ice" is a song by Brooklyn-based indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, from their eponymous debut album. The song was released as a single in the United Kingdom by Wichita Recordings on February 27, 2006...
" (UK #68) - 2006: "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" (UK limited vinyl – 1500 copies) (UK #149)
- 2007: "Satan Said Dance" (released 19 February)
- 2011: "Maniac" (released as a free download on 25 July)