Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (CYHSY) in San Francisco

They played at the Great American Music Hall last night with the Brunettes. I wondered if they invited their opening act because of all the hand clapping they did, but I mostly found the Brunettes to be silly. CYHSY, in contrast, was passionate rock. Their live performance was intense and rough around the edges but well-practiced and not at all lazy. They played nearly every song from their first and only album, but also threw in some new tunes that were just as mysteriously catchy - the crowd was instantly anticipating all future albums.

Lead singer, Alec Ounsworth, reminded me of Neil Young, wearing a hat on his head and a harmonica around his neck. His voice is the key to CYHSY's distinctive sound. It isn't as pretty as the voice of whoever won American Idol, but it is so much better. Think David Byrne and Thom Yorke. Add the back up vocals, in songs like "Heavy Metal" or "Is This Love?" and you suddenly have a sort of zero gravity gut feeling built into a vocal melody.

The band rocks hard, which was great in the intimate Great American Music Hall - a near mosh-pit even erupted in the elegant, yet sturdy hall. The stand out song of the evening was "Upon this Tidal Wave of Young Blood" - also one of the best on their album which, it should be mentioned, they released on their own without a major label.