Some Loud Thunder
by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Metascore
63

Generally favorable reviews - based on 36 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 36
  3. Negative: 0 out of 36
  1. The Boston Phoenix
    50
    The songs start running together till they’re not distinct tracks so much as guitars and bass and drums and yelpy indie vocals that happen to have been recorded at the same time.
  2. Rolling Stone
    60
    Less energetic and more all-over-the-place, it's ramshackle rock full of drones and jangles that crest and hum, with Alec Ounsworth splashing his warbly David Byrne alto around like cheap paint.
  3. Tiny Mix Tapes
    50
    Replacing the kitschy DIY aesthetic with intentional roughness and bloating each nook and cranny with some sort of sound, what’s emphasized is its production, not its songwriting.... At the same time, however, it’s the production that makes the album somewhat interesting.
  5. musicOMH.com
    40
    This album is too much of a mess to be seen as a worthy follow-up to such a great debut.
  6. Village Voice
    60
    [Fridmann's] atmospheric flourishes have always been heavy handed, but here they muddle tightly conceived pop tunes that would've sounded better scrappy.
  7. PopMatters
    40
    The band’s weakness may well be that it has become comfortable in its awkward and uncomfortable sound.
  8. Prefix Magazine
    40
    Ounsworth's impassioned delivery is gone throughout most of Some Loud Thunder, replaced by what can only be described as vague indifference.
  9. Under The Radar
    60
    It isn't awful... However, neither does Thunder deliver the lightning strike that would effectively mute the onslaught of a backlash. [#16, p.90]
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  10. New Musical Express (NME)
    40
    There's the odd good song... but these are rare moments from a band wallowing in coarse experimentalism. [20 Jan 2007, p.31]
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  11. Uncut
    60
    A flawed but fascinating follow-up. [Feb 2007, p.85]
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  12. Blender
    50
    Some Loud Thunder is certainly uncompromising--which isn't the same thing as "good," although it's got a handful of very good moments. [Mar 2007, p.131]
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  13. Alternative Press
    50
    Some Loud Thunder isn't without its successes--but it is defined by its failures. [Feb 2007, p.114]
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  14. Mojo
    40
    It's too mixed a bag of highlights and lowlights to be lovable. [Feb 2007, p.100]
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  15. Urb
    40
    CYHSY seem to have set out to make their "important" sophomore record... which is only truly important if you believe that songs gain weight at the hand of bulbous studio wankage (they don't) and that unnecessarily inflated melodrama equals more fun (it doesn't). [Jan/Feb 2007, p.76]
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  16. The New York Times
    60
    Clap Your Hands Say Yeah demands a new, irksome level of indulgence on "Some Loud Thunder." But it finds a new richness in the songs it doesn’t sabotage. [29 Jan 2007]
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  17. Hartford Courant
    60
    It's worth giving it a second (or third) listen.

Awards & Rankings

53
#53 Most Discussed Album of 2007

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 74 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 50 out of 74
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 74
  3. Negative: 5 out of 74
  1. JuanPabloCH
    Mar 16, 2007
    10
    am really fascinated with this record, it is without a doubt one of my favorite records of this year because 'Some Loud Thunder' am really fascinated with this record, it is without a doubt one of my favorite records of this year because 'Some Loud Thunder' shows a face different with so surprising sounds, for sample 'Satan Said it Dance' or 'Some Lud Thunder' It is a record completely different to the first one and it shows us to a band that continues toward before with strong steps without looking back.… Full Review »
  2. gazgg
    Oct 5, 2012
    2
    A bizarre act of self sabotage. lo-fi works sometimes but Neutral Milk Hotel this ain't. The only worthwhile song here is Satan Can DanceA bizarre act of self sabotage. lo-fi works sometimes but Neutral Milk Hotel this ain't. The only worthwhile song here is Satan Can Dance which is uncoincidentally the only one not ruined by what has to be the worst example of production, recording and mastering in recent mainstream indie history.
    There are good songs there i'm sure but they are all buried behind what sounds like a 56kbps mp3 (I have the CD album, not a bad rip).
    Call it an artistic statement if you will but the fact remains that what could have been an enjoyable album is ruined by a misguided aesthetic.    … Full Review »
  3. JasonL
    May 9, 2007
    8
    Definitely grows on you. Took me a while to get into, and I don't think it is going to get the same playtime as the first. But I still Definitely grows on you. Took me a while to get into, and I don't think it is going to get the same playtime as the first. But I still can't stop listening to this one, so thumbs up.… Full Review »
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