1.5 out of 5 stars

I’d like to think I’m fairly open-minded. So when I came across the debut album from a band called Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, I had to have a listen.

Unfortunately this album just doesn’t hit the spot for me. I’ll admit there are some interesting odds and ends amongst the 12 tracks presented here, but overall I think it suffers from a lack of really great songs. Even mediocre tracks are few and far between.

Personally I think two things are to blame. Firstly, the music sounds way too much like a collection of parts from other albums in the genre, and anytime you start listening to a CD and the first words that come to mind are the names of other bands … well, lets just say that’s not a good thing.

Secondly, singer Alec Ounsworth sounds like Coldplay’s Chris Martin with a serious bout of the flu. I’ll leave it at that. Seriously, if you are a big fan of the American East Coast sound then Clap Your Hands Say Yeah could be for you. If you are looking for something easy to listen to on your day off, I would recommend looking elsewhere.