- Record Label: V2 Records / Cooperative
- Release Date: Sep 20, 2011
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Sep 29, 2011Alec Ounsworth has responded to the challenge by writing a bright, pithy record stuffed with delicious tunes, not only in the vocals but both guitars and (particularly) the keyboards, and generally all at the same time.
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Sep 26, 2011Is Hysterical radio-friendly? Yes. Is it a bit of a letdown after a five-year wait? Maybe. But is it boring? Absolutely not.
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Sep 26, 2011As good a distillation of pop's best qualities as I've heard all year.
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Sep 23, 2011The album stays firmly planted in the post-punk/synth pop wheelhouse, which means that it's incredibly consistent, but not necessarily surprising, which could be a good or bad thing for fans, depending on whether they prefer their debut or their sophomore album.
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Sep 23, 2011Mostly, Hysterical is lost in a hazy cloud that is more Dan Bejar than it is David Byrne.
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Sep 21, 2011For a band that once never failed to make an impression, be it positive or nauseating, the fact that the best Hysterical can muster is indifference is simply disappointing.
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Sep 21, 2011Hysterical definitely boasts more strong moments than weak.
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Sep 21, 2011It's straightforward, competently balanced, dewily lush art-pop, but it's also a deeply affecting, immersive treat; a fully mature return from a band acting like they have something to prove.
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Sep 21, 2011Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's third album might not set the world on fire, but it's a great little record in its own right.
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Sep 20, 2011Hysterical is built for the long haul, and it appears, after a patch of rocky terrain, that Clap Your Hands are too.
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Sep 20, 2011The low-fi haze and ramshackle post-punk of the first two records by these self-made indie heroes are mostly gone on album three, replaced by confident songs festooned with shiny hooks.
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Sep 20, 2011CYHSY has reeled back the infectious madness, softening the edges once made so acute by pinwheeling guitars, buoyant bass, and danceable rhythms.
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Sep 15, 2011The disappointment is in how it sounds like their years apart have needlessly chastened them into fast-forwarding through the idiosyncratic streak they showed on Some Loud Thunder instead of embracing it, coming out of the wilderness only to end up smack dab in the middle of the road.
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Sep 13, 2011It's an overly gauzy, booming-echo epic that doesn't leave much trace after it's over.
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Sep 12, 2011There's that genuinely disappointing sense of having heard this before, whether it be on 2007's Some Loud Thunder, their debut, or in countless other bands. Yet there's still a spark here that holds interest for a few listens.
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Sep 12, 2011CYHSY now sound more or less exactly like The Killers.
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Sep 12, 2011CYHSY have created an album that is both jubilant and disarmingly vulnerable.
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Sep 12, 2011From the bouncy 'Same Mistake' (this album's 'Is This Love?'), to the darkly nostalgic ballad to years past, 'Misspent Youth', it's a comeback as irrationally happy-inducing as its title suggests.
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Sep 12, 2011Hysterical marks a significant return to form and fortune for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
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Sep 12, 2011It has its moments--the title track has a certain chutzpah--but a lack of killer hooks means there's precious little to get excited about here.
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Under The RadarNov 3, 2011The album sags a bit in the middle, but such songs as "Yesterday, Never" and "Ketamine and Ecstasy" pick up the slack, chugging along with thumping drums and jangly guitars of early R.E.M. [Oct 2011, p.104]
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Nov 3, 2011There are shades of the National's late-night moodiness ("Misspent Youth") and the triumph of Broken Social Scene's Forgiveness Rock Record ("Ketamine and Ecstasy").
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Q MagazineSep 21, 2011They make a decent stab at it. But with such an overfamiliar sound, it smacks too much of the World Cup exit montage. [Oct 2011, p.117]
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MojoSep 19, 2011It's no great leap forward, but it's a decent return on the band's early promise. [Oct 2011, p.105]
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Alternative PressSep 14, 2011Even if the energy level flags toward Hysterical's end, it's safe to say welcome back, fellows--all is forgiven. [Oct 2011, p.106]
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UncutSep 14, 2011After a fair-to-middling second album they took a self-imposed break before returning with this excellent effort. [Oct 2011, p.83]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 8 out of 10
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Mixed: 2 out of 10
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Negative: 0 out of 10
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Sep 22, 2011
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Feb 4, 2012
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Jan 24, 2012