Clap your hands say yeah

Last night I saw the band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at the Mercury Lounge.

I wasn't sure whether or not Clap your Hands... is a good band name or not. At first I thought it was stupid, then I kind of liked it. Then I saw them.

When they started with tambourine, I thought the name was good. When the main guy came with harmonica, I thought it was shaky.

Clap your hands is more singer-songwriter orientated than the name might suggest, which isn't to say that the songs didn't seem pretty good in the live setting. I think the singer needs to sing more, as his voice sounded uncomfortable.

Anyway, I think they have only played in New York, and they don't have any recordings out yet. I think they could be pretty good, but they need some coaching. The website has some songs, which I think sounded better live.

After Clap your hands came Pit Er Pat. I saw about half the show. They were kind of like White Magic but the drum and bass guys were a little bit too much about showing off their skills. They are on Thrill Jockey which I suppose is pretty cool. This morning I learned that the drummer's "name" is Butchy Fuego (check out the band bio at thrill jockey), which seems about right. And explains why I left about halfway into their set.

I missed Menomena, but today I learned that they have a headache inducing website.