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Album Reviews
Album Review: The Phenomenal Handclap Band – The Phenomenal Handclap Band (Tummy Touch)
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 6 July 2009
The Phenomenal Handclap Band are a nine-member supergroup collective, and are the sly product of mass collaboration that started in Brooklyn and ended in Manhattan. Though undeniably tied close with the New York indie scene they were born into, they incorporate a mass of genres into their sound, from funk to dance, to electro and disco, even a bit of Brazilian beat not too dissimilar (though perhaps too similar) to the likes of Tetine and CSS. Self-titled debut ‘The Phenomenal Handclap Band’ is a melting pot of those genres – though it’s not as messy and convoluted as one might imagine. Certainly more funk-swayed than anything else, the entire play of ‘TPHB’ is slick and cool, despite the seemingly patchwork-esque formation of the band in question. Heavy bass and warm beats lilt the album and raise it above the kind of background music you might hear in a Camden vintage boutique. That said, ’15 To 20′, ‘TPHB’s swaggering highlight, sounds so much like CSS’s ‘Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above’ it’s practically musical robbery; and that is the album’s one downfall – it’s cool, but we’ve heard it all before. Nevertheless, despite The Phenomenal Handclap Band’s blatant copy-cat syndrome, this is a decent album for the summer, full of cool, catchy tunes. Next time, though, TPHB should push a few more boundaries if they want some decent shelf-life. TW
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