By Andrea HartThe Daily Northwestern
Few images capture the DIY attitude like the photo of Bob Dylan leaving the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.
Donning black shades, a black suit and a badass attitude, the image shows Dylan disregarding the pandemonium clawing at his car and his disregard for the backlash of trading in his acoustic guitar for an electric one.
Over 40 years later, this attitude has seemingly found a new home with overnight indie icons Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
After self-releasing their self-titled album in June 2005, these DIY darlings unintentionally wooed the hearts of music bloggers everywhere.
In less time than it takes to say their name, Clap Your Hands’ sound was gobbled up by the underground music scene.
Pitchfork embraced the band, giving the album a 9.0 rating, praising their live performance and ranking the album as one of the 50 best albums in 2005.
Other publications followed suit. Rolling Stone named Clap Your Hands as the “Hot New Band” of 2005.
Instead of being smothered by the hype, the band was oblivious to it.
“We never paid attention to what was being said because there was no prompting on our part,” frontman Alec Ounsworth said. “This all happened without our knowledge.”
Ounsworth attests that Clap Your Hands’ success is their own.
“It’s ludicrous to attribute what has happened to Pitchfork,” he said. “A publication cannot own a band; it’s impossible.”
No record label can claim the band either. Clap Your Hands, which also includes Lee Sargent, Robbie Guertin, Tyler Sargent and Sean Greenhalgh as band members, has sold over 45,000 CDs, have been featured in countless magazines and have had the attendance of David Bowie at one of their shows – all without being signed to a record label.
Clap Your Hands’ disinterest in signing is a resistance to commercialism, though offers have been made, Ounsworth said. He said labels often force bands to fall into traps, ranging from major labels scooping up an indie act to indie labels sticking with one profitable sound.
“Every label tries different approaches, but in trying to stay (on top) they become desperate,” Ounsworth said. “It’s never good to become desperate.”
So why does everyone love these orphans?
It may be a consequence of location, since four of the five band members reside in Brooklyn, N.Y., an area deemed to be the new hip haven.
Maybe it just boils down to the universality of their sound.
While the band may beat their instruments into a melodic fury, listeners can’t deny the toe-tapping catchiness of the band’s music. They’ve seemingly fused elements of avant-garde, noise rock with the lyricism of pop music.
Although Clap Your Hands is facing the pressure that resulted from over a year’s worth of attention, Ounsworth remains oblivious. He said the best and weirdest thing is “that it hasn’t stopped yet.”
Whether Ounsworth’s ignorance echoes Dylan’s wisdom – or acts as pretentiousness in disguise – is for the listener to decide.
Medill sophomore Andrea Hart is a PLAY writer. She can be reached at [email protected].
