Right: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Photo by Mattias Elgemark)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are: Alec Ounsworth, Lee Sargent, Tyler Sargent, Sean Greenhalgh, and Robbie Guertin. Based out of Brooklyn, New York, CYHSY is named after some Brooklyn graffiti (try a Google image search). The band members are multi-instrumentalists that have released their debut CD on their own label, promoted it on the internet, and distributed it to stores and radio stations themselves. They remain unsigned with a record label. Word of mouth, and a great review on Pitchfork have played as catalysts to their popularity as well. A friend in Brooklyn told me (several months ago) that since I was listening to the Arcade Fire, I should check out CYHSY, but I have only recently started listening to their cd (three weeks non-stop in my car rotation), and finally made it to the second sold-out Atlanta show in less than five months. They prove that a talented and driven band will get heard.

The self-titled CD intro invites you to what I picture as a scene out of Tim Burton's "Big Fish". The cover art is bright, whimsical, and somewhat mysterious. It's almost as if in their lives, just as in Edward Bloom's, they've got "big appetites (for music), enormous passions, and tall tales" to tell us about. I'm listening. After reading interviews of the band, you gather that they have no interest in playing the comparison game. When it comes to describing their sound, they say they listen to bands all over the map, but CYHSY have a sound all their own. They project what they feel and are dedicated to their craft; lead singer Alec writes every day after shows.

Variety Playhouse, March 10th: CYHSY took the stage to cheers and pointer fingers spread up through the crowd in attempts to let someone know we couldn't hear the vocals for the first few seconds. You could hear roars at the first sounds of Alec's voice, a "euphoric nasal yelp" according to the BBC. Energy on the stage is so high that they're constantly moving around, strumming, humming, and talking between songs. It was impossible to get a still photo, but that's fitting. I saw Alec mouth "YEAH!" to himself between songs and it made me smile - it's refreshing to see that kind of excitement on stage - the crowd most definitely was (excited), but it was great to see that energy reciprocated by the band. They played at least one new song, but didn't mention a name. Robbie, while on keyboards, was grinning and clapping his hands with the kind of energy I'd like to bottle up and take with me to work on Monday mornings. He's just great & thanked the crowd many times for coming out to see them. He played keyboard with one hand, shook and intensely hit the tambourine to his chest with the other, and at the end of a song, rested the tambourine on his head. Third song into the encore, Dr. Dog joined CYHSY on stage to close the show. They seem like old friends. CYHSY played their hearts out and I can't wait to hear more from them and see them again live.

Right: Dr. Dog (Photo by Michael Withers)

New York Times music critic Kelefa Sanneh describes the Dr. Dogs's live sets as being filled with "off-kilter ballads and light-headed riff-rock". The band is from Philadelphia. Dr. Dog has been in music for four years. Dr. Dog has as many as 20 honorary "members" who have assisted in variously, but the core of the band consists of five musicians. Their instrumentation includes guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards. They name The Beach Boys, Beatles, Tom Waits, David Bowie and Neil Young as influences on their website. Current lineup: Toby Leaman on bass and singing, Scott McMicken on "woof+mud" distortion solo guitar and voice, Andrew Jones guitar, Juston Stens on trapset and harmonies and Zach Miller on keyboard(s). They've played around Philadelphia at a number of places, and they have accompanied My Morning Jacket on two tours, - the second of which also featured M. Ward. Dr. Dog has three cd's out: Psychedelic Swamp, Toothbrush, Easy Beat.