Some Loud Thunder is a mostly successful attempt, by a talented band, to sidestep the sophomore slump while avoiding a rehash of their previous album.   Full text...

Its primary problem is that, unlike the debut, it lacks any uplifting anthem to draw in listeners and encourage them to persevere.  Full text...

It is a phenomenal mix of staccato Talking Heads guitar lines, motorik Can rhythmical drive and the deranged, Violent Femmes-like "Satan, Satan, Satan" chant. An entirely satisfying sophomore effort.  Full text...

There’s a lot to like about the album, even though it’s quite a departure from the debut. In this case, quirky is mostly good.  Full text...

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah once again provided material for heated internet debate.  Full text...

They made another Clap Your Hands Say Yeah record.  Full text...

Some Loud Thunder is a mixed bag of spectacular material and hodge-podge studio doodles, but its critical success lies in how it disowns time-honoured indie machinations to allow the band to ditch the identity crises, and escape unhinged onto original terrain.   Full text...

Some Loud Thunder is a partial success. When it shines, it shines brightly and showcases a skill at crafting - when they have the balls to carry their ideas through - insanely catchy left-of-centre quirk pop a la Talking Heads. But when the failures strike, they’re unable to even muster hatred or disappointment; instead merely serving as fodder for muted indifference.  Full text...

The band’s infectious enthusiasm and buoyant sense of melody is often shadowed beneath veils of studio affect, which sometimes shears every last element of clarity. Gone, for the most part, are the stark, pearly heartaches of “Sunshine and Clouds” or the lean, almost motorik grooves of “Over and Over Again.”  Full text...

No, Thunder isn't as good as CYHSY's self-titled 2005 debut, but not for a lack of effort.  Full text...

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.   Full text...

A flawed but fascinating follow-up.   Full text...

On this follow-up it's moderated somewhat, his hoarse inflections now sounding more like Thom Yorke, a comparison that fits the Radiohead-esque sonic bricolage and air of numbed anxiety in tracks such as "Safe and Sound" and "Emily Jean Stock".  Full text...

It may not be as immediate as their debut, and it may not even sound as good to some - but if you're willing to persevere, it'll prove a worthy soundtrack for any hipster to clap their ears 'round.  Full text...

What we do have is an album that is more polished, more varied, and (for better or worse) more mature than its predecessor.   Full text...

CYHSY sounded exactly like the kind of indie band that could’ve/should’ve opened for The Arcade Fire: poppy, melodic, inviting, energetic, and with just enough reverb, distorted guitars, and jangly picking to create the illusion of something “big.”  Full text...

When Clap Your Hands Say Yeah appeared in 2005, Alec Ounsworth's jerky, punky indie troupe were lauded by many as the missing link between Talking Heads and The Rapture, their unique zeitgeist-surfing mixture of dance, art school nonchalance and ragged guitars sending hipsters and critics alike into paroxysms of joy.  Full text...

This faux-artistic "lo-fi" aesthetic rears its ugly head on a several other occasions throughout the course of Some Loud Thunder, most notably on the hopelessly vapid "Satan Said Dance" and "Arm and Hammer."  Full text...