[rating=7.00]
Since the release of their eponymous debut in 2005, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have struggled to create something quite as monumental. In fact, after releasing three other LPs over the past decade and failing to receive much critical acclaim, founder Alec Ounsworth has decided to make the band a solo project and The Tourist is the first release with himself as the only official member. Surprisingly, The Tourist has a fuller sound than many of their previous releases. That could be because after recording the album at Dr. Dog’s Philadelphia studio with a drummer and bassist, Ounsworth spent a few months with the engineer Nick Krill adding backup vocals, keyboards, guitars and more percussion.
From the start it is evident to fans of the band that The Tourist is the biggest return to form album since their self-titled debut. The opening track “The Pilot” starts the album off with a strong, confident feel with Ounsworth’s peculiar falsetto over acoustic guitars and a mostly subdued drumbeat. Not surprisingly, the most standout songs on the album, “Down (Is Where I Want to Be)” and “Fireproof” have been released as singles. “Fireproof” is a dark synth and electric guitar laden track that hears Ounsworth singing confidently with enough of an experimental feel to bring to mind earlier material. “Down (Is Where I Want to Be)” is another synth filled track with some dark but danceable beats and is easily one of the most catchy on the album. Some of the other tracks like “The Vanity of Trying” and “Visiting Hours” are still good songs but sound more like experimental British indie pop artists Fanfarlo and post-brit pop than classic CYHSY.
While Clap Your Hands Say Yeah was definitely not the first band to combine experimental rock with indie rock, their debut album was paramount to bringing that sound into mainstream indie rock. It could be that their debut album held their best material, as is the case for many bands, or it could be that as listeners started exploring other bands in the experimental indie genre they found that bands like Animal Collective or Of Montreal and others that cropped up just created more consistent albums. Whatever the reason, Ounsworth’s decision to stick it out as a solo member of the band seems like exactly was what needed to start creating the sound that fans of the band feel in love with in the first place. The Tourist is easily the best overall album that the band has released in over a decade.
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