- Record Label: Friendly Fire
- Release Date: Jun 23, 2009
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This album encapsulates the nostalgic elements of ESG, ELO, Tom Tom Club, The Doors and Sly And The Family Stone, applies a gloss of New York cool and then re-packages it with the modern production of the LCD Soundsystem, CSS and Beck variety. Forget the handclap, they'll take a standing ovation.
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Collas and Marquand hold things down with DJ tightness, while members of bands like TV on the Radio and The Dap Kings let loose in the grooves.
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This is a party album, whose two centrepieces--the proto-disco drone of You Disappear, and the playground chant of 15 to 20--are irresistible invitations on to the floor.
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Feb 13, 2012Serves it purpose as a ready-made playlist for your next party, but perhaps the band's oversimplifying of its sound has stripped away some of its mystique in the process.
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Under The RadarUnlikely to change your life. Guaranteed to change your afternoon. [Summer 2009, p.70]
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PHB's sense of style is spot-on, but the anemic tunecraft on The Phenomenal Handclap Band is unlikely to impress fans of the O'Jays or Curtis Mayfield.
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I wouldn't necessarily recommend the LP for anyone who can't make an hour on the treadmill, but there are a few tunes here worth hearing. Too bad you can't exactly make out who's cranking them out.