Clap Your Hands Say Yeah announces digital reissues of entire catalog with rare bonus tracks

Praise for Some Loud Thunder:

“…what CYHSY do best: cracked, brassy vocals, shaggy rhythms, and luxuriant melodies.”

“This record won’t spill all its secrets the first time through. But that doesn’t mean

there aren’t secrets waiting in there.”

“With plenty of distortion, layers of Beatle-esque harmonies, and raspy vocals spat out by Alec Ounsworth, it’s enthusiastically raw.”

“…capitalised on the tension between Oundsworth’s spiralling, just-about-to-fall-over vocals and the driving, zealous music that stops him from metaphorically sailing away

into the ether.”

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are excited to announce digital reissues of their entire catalog, with one album being reissued every week through September 18. Each reissue will be accompanied by rare or unheard bonus tracks, including demos, outtakes, b-sides and live and radio session tracks. Last Friday, their acclaimed sophomore album Some Loud Thunder received the digital reissue treatment — listen to the full album HERE. Next up is Hysterical (Bonus Tracks) this Friday, September 4.

To kick off the extensive new reissue campaign, the band first reissued their widely-acclaimed debut album Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, complete with a trove of bonus tracks. A heady blend of left-field pop and melodic, exuberant indie rock, the record repurposed a number of classic new wave references for a new generation of music fans. Fun-loving and quirky, the band achieved that rare alchemy – synthesizing a dizzying array of styles and influences into something wholly their own. And that something was utterly glorious, full of buzzing synths, trebly guitars, bustling drums, and lilting, wailing vocals.

HEAR SOME LOUD THUNDER (BONUS TRACKS)

Alec Ounsworth and the project he’s dedicated his artistic life to, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, have always been about noble goals – write unique songs and connect to audiences in new, organic ways, all without compromise. Largely defined as ‘indie’, Alec has now shown what it means to be truly independent: after gaining back 100% of his rights, now consolidated with the similarly independent Secretly Distribution and Domino Publishing, the DIY spirit of ‘putting music first’ that made their debut so compelling is being taken a step further.

“It took some conviction to remain independent — turning down money and perks, etc — and it’s probably the main thing about this project I’m proud of – trying to get through to people in a broader, organic way without having other people deciding for us.”

Now, almost 17 years and over 150 recorded songs later, Ounsworth has revisited his entire discography. With one record per week starting August 21, 2020, Ounsworth will release a series of rarities albums featuring unreleased or rare demos, outtakes, b-sides, and live and radio session tracks, with one standalone album corresponding to each Clap Your Hands Say Yeah original studio record. Those albums — 2005’s Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, 2007’s Some Loud Thunder, 2011’s Hysterical, 2014’s Only Run, and 2017’s The Tourist — will remain in their original form, and are available both online and in physical formats.

Alongside the albums recorded as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, 2009’s Steve Berlin-produced Mo Beauty, originally released on ANTI-, will be re-released with three rare bonus tracks, while Ounsworth’s 2009’s musical project Flashy Python’s Skin And Bones, is due later this year in a deluxe re-release.

For the first time ever, all these curiosities will be available worldwide on all streaming services and digital outlets.

Some Loud Thunder (Bonus Tracks) is the second in a series of rarities albums featuring demos, outtakes, b-sides, live and radio session tracks, with one standalone album corresponding to each Clap Your Hands Say Yeah original studio record.

Buoyed by the success of their debut record, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – the five-piece formed around Alec Ounsworth – refined and broadened their sound for the follow up, 2007’s Some Loud Thunder. A denser listen, the band – together with acclaimed producer Dave Fridmann – expanded those elements that made their self-titled debut such a compelling album, while maintaining the ramshackle charm that first won them legions of fans.

Some Loud Thunder was adventurous too – just how much is evident from the three tracks, ‘Dynamite’, ‘Sword’, and ‘Watson’, included here that didn’t make the cut. “They just didn’t fit with the rest of the songs on the album,” says Ounsworth. Yet they’re evidence of his expanded songwriting horizons – all three have since been reworked and released elsewhere.

There’s also one of his oldest songs – ‘Tell The Truth (and Going Away)’ – that was recorded for the movie The Great Buck Howard (the demo is also included), a solo version of ‘Underwater (Little Elephant)’ that Ounsworth rearranged for his living room shows, and a selection of blistering live recordings of some classic Clap Your Hands Say Yeah tracks. Some Loud Thunder marked the point at which Ounsworth stepped out from the relentless hype that engulfed his early years and cemented their reputation on musical talent alone – this rarities album shows just how far that extended.

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH

SOME LOUD THUNDER (BONUS TRACKS)

1. Dynamite

2. The Sword Song

3. Watson

4. You and I

5. Telling The Truth (and Going Away) – From the motion picture The Great Buck Howard

6. Telling The Truth (and Going Away) – Demo 2004

7. Some Loud Thunder (Live In Somerville, MA, 2017)

8. Satan Said Dance (Live in Allston, MA, 2016)

9. Love Song No. 7 (Live in Cambridge, MA, 2013)

10. Love Song No. 7 (Live in Philadelphia, PA, 2010)

11. Yankee Go Home (Live in Somerville, MA, 2017)

12. Underwater (You and Me) – Little Elephant acoustic EP, 2014

CONNECT WITH CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH

OFFICIAL | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM