Album: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah <!-- none onestar twostar threestar fourstar fivestar -->

Some Loud Thunder, WICHITA

The make-or-break aspect of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's eponymous debut - its Marmite factor, so to speak - was front-man Alex Ounsworth's vocal style, which drew comparisons to Rufus Wainwright and a drunken David Byrne. On this follow-up it's moderated somewhat, his hoarse inflections now sounding more like Thom Yorke, a comparison that fits the Radiohead-esque sonic bricolage and air of numbed anxiety in tracks such as "Safe and Sound" and "Emily Jean Stock". The latter in particular presents an aesthetic of sonic collision, rendered agreeable by the subtle touch of producer Dave Fridmann. Elsewhere, the methodical guitar lines of "Goodbye To Mother and The Cove" recall Tubular Bells, while "Upon Encountering the Crippled Elephant" offers a brief transformation of what sounds like "Que Sera Sera" into a louche accordion waltz. Best of all, "Satan Said Dance" features manic piano discords and a berserk electric organ solo over an urgent disco groove.

DOWNLOAD THIS: "Satan Said Dance", "Emily Jean Stock", "Safe and Sound"