New Fragility - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Review
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
are an American indie project who made major waves in the indie scene in 2005 with their self-produced, self-released and self-titled debut album. While they never quite reached that level of critical success again then did release a number of subsequent projects as a group, before taking a break and returning as an Alex Ounsworth solo project in 2017. While their return album didn't necessarily generate a ton of buzz this time around there's been more attention pointed in the bands direction.
Review By Lav:
I've always had a soft spot for the lo-fi indie music of the 2000's. Partly because I grew up listening to it and scenes parallel to it, but in the BandCamp era of bedroom indie revivalism there are plenty of new bands carrying the torch. I'm a big fan of CYHSY's debut album so I've kept tabs on pretty much everything they've done and the singles for this album had me pretty excited. As it turns out this is by far my favorite thing the band has done in a long time and throwing it in the direction of the bands earlier work proves to be an incredibly effective formula.
The record had 4 singles in the lead up to its release and each time they dropped it only served to make me more excited for the album. Hesitating Nation is a 2000's indie classic with raw boyish vocals and a driving, dreamy instrumental. While the songwriting is simple it is also very effective when paired with the strained and dramatic vocal performance. It was a great lead single and a great tone setter serving as the intro to the record. It's companion single Thousand Oaks comes next and takes a bit more of a ballad type approach that feels like U2 inspired songwriting if you can even believe that. Obviously everything has a bit of a rougher edge but the steady blissful instrumental is really easy to get completely lost in. The lyricism is sort of fascinating as its filled with the same kind of naturalistic metaphors you'd expect from indie music like this but at points it gets strikingly real out of nowhere. All of this plus a hard-hitting instrumental bridge on the back half of the song makes it a huge success.
Next up was Where They Perform Miracles a very cold ballad that sees Alex referencing his past over some somber guitars. Honestly as funny as hearing a harmonica solo in 2021 is I do think the song would probably be better off without it, the hook is quite memorable and I wish it has just gone right into its crescendo, overall it's a minor complaint though. CYHSY, 2005 was the last single and is much more upbeat in tone that much of what else is here. Wish soaring keys and jangle pop guitars its one of the most instrumentally forward tracks for sure. The only complaint I have about the track is that there are points where it feels like Alex is underselling it vocally and I think it all could have been even better if he had really gone all in.
Somehow even after liking all the singles the best songs CYHSY had to offer we're still to come. Innocent Weight is a beautiful track backed by both electric guitar wailing and immaculate walls of strings. Alex sits at the core of the grand presentation delivering vulnerable poetry with vivid metaphors. What the song lacks in compositional density on the back end it mostly makes up for with its theatrics. Mirror Sun may be the best song I've heard all year, even if I don't think there are many people who would agree with me on that. The instrumental is almost entirely made up of strictly piano aside from the hook and Alex's take on both keys and vocals is a timeless ballad format. The song delivers encapsulating lyricism and an absolutely mesmerizing vocal that has me hanging onto every word of his strained performance. This is a seriously bold way to write and present a song in the polished world of 2021 indie music but it's pulled off expertly. Went Looking For Trouble is the longest song on the entire record and it doesn't waste ay time getting into some provocative lyricism. While I can't make much sense of an entire storyline across the track the lyrics are certainly engaging and memorable. Around two minutes into the song there is a grand uptick in instrumentation led by some smashing drums that make for one of the records loudest moments and leads the song into an entirely different segment with its own crescendo. This is definitely a spot on the record where I could see the vocals being an issue for people who aren't that familiar with lo-fi indie music as Alex is really straining at points along the song. The performance works really well for me however and I still really like the song and structurally it lives up to its runtime.
There isn't really a song on here I dislike, and even for some of the "weaker" tracks, I have much more good to say about them than bad. Dee, Forgiven is a weird song for sure. Instrumentally it starts off in a crawl that reminds me of some slowcore before erupting into a harsh rustic wall of instrumentation. In the mean time Alex is delivering some striking vocals that strangely remind me of some of the brighter Lingua Ignota tracks for some reason. While I'm not sure every single risk on the song pans out perfectly it is certainly one of the most memorable moments on the album. New Fragility is a Killers song. Alex is flat out heartland rocking his way through this tracks dusty atmosphere from the memorable plucked riffs to the gentle piano over the verses. The song doesn't knock me off my feet or anything mostly because the hook is pretty low impact but it's still an enjoyable listen. The closing track If I Were More Like Jesus is just as provocative as its title would suggest. It is the records most lo-fi moment for sure as it sounds like Alex is singing into a Nintendo DS microphone. But what it lacks in quality it brings in rustic beauty. While some of the lyrics aren't great the performance is beautiful and the harrowing dramatic vocals make it easy to get lost in.
New Fragility isn't re-writing the book on DIY indie music, in fact its turning back the clock to a very specific era in the genre's history. Given that the band was a foundational piece of that era it's absolutely no surprise that they can still return to it with all the poise and excellence that was once expected of them. If you're skeptical about how something like this sounds in 2021 I'll go ahead and provide some relief, New Fragility is a wonderful record with numerous great highlights and nothing truly bad in its runtime. Whether this is your genre or not, the record is worth hearing for its great songwriting and performances throughout. 8/10
Album Cover Review By Tyler Judson:
