Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth (Wichita)
UK release date: 10 July 2006
As the most interesting thing to come out of New York City since Talking Heads they hype around this wonderfully named Brooklyn five-piece is understandable. Although with a sound that is impossible to accurately pin down (think Bloc Party, Mogwai and Roxy Music in some form of glorious musical blender), perhaps this is a band that requires a certain degree of effort in order to discover the joys within.
Taken from the band's debut, self-titled album, Yellow Country Teeth is a fairly simple affair that embodies pretty-much the essence of Clap Your Hands' appeal. Dance-inducing drum-beats, coupled with effortlessly tuneful guitar hooks and keyboards are all rather enjoyable, but this remains entirely constant throughout the five-and-a-half minutes.
What makes the band special is the voice of frontman Alec Ounsworth. Sounding at first like Thom Yorke with several simultaneous flu infections, given time his rasping delivery begins to display its depths of emotion and zeal. On top of that, his lyrics are excellent; with the outstanding chorus of this track he pledges, "I have never planned to let go of the hand that has been clinging by its thick country skin to my yellow country teeth". Definitely one to remember.
And then it ends, with no real changes in pattern. But then, when you have created something that is warm, vibrant and oh-so colourful, there appears little reason to mess around with it. May the band with the glorious name long continue to plough this lone furrow.
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