Album Review

The Phenomenal Handclap Band – Eponymous

• 13th Jul 2009

What tends to happen when a bunch of hipsters come together to write music? Well, fuck all usually. Maybe one vaguely only good, because it was played so many times it has seared into my brain, song ala Dandy Warhols, but nothing worth actually giving a damn about.

The Phenomenal Handclap Band seem to have avoided this pratfall by actually having a modicum of talent swishing around in their many souls. This, you’ll understand works out very well for the listener. ‘I’ve Been Born Again’ sounds like a psychadelic Red Hot Chili Peppers, ‘You’ll Disappear’ mixes proggy lasers with funky rhythms that will have your grandmother panting because you’ve had the song on repeat for two hours and she hasn’t stopped dancing.

Part Sly and The Family Stone part Scissor Sisters part Fun Loving Criminals, TPHB are a completely orgasmic mind-fuck of genres and styles. Put your hands together for a very 21st century phenomenon worth caring about.

Photo by Meaghan Montagano