Tynan's Anger

SONGS OF THE DECADE #35

[For more info, read the Ground Rules of The Song of The Decade List]

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth (2005)



Four years later, "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" still sounds like one of the better songs of the decade, which is rather remarkable. In hindsight, what bothers me so much about the fate of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is not that they were overhyped, nor that they were the first to be overhyped in the "new way," nor that they may now be "under-hyped" because of the backlash to the initial hype. What really bothers me is that the test run for internet hype had to happen to a band like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, a band whose entire appeal runs counter the the notion of hype. At their best, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah was band of outsiders trying to make it in the city with no strings attached.

It's easy to see how this sensibility appeals to Pitchfork; it's harder to see that while Clap Your Hands owes all their fame to Pitchfork, they don't "owe" Pitchfork or anyone else anything of substance. All they offer is their music, and all they ask in return is that you listen. That's the whole freaking point of this band, and why "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" still sounds so vital. Its artistic accomplishment was able to overcome the economic forces (however puny) that made a good thing into a valuated product.

Labels: 2000s, clap your hands say yeah, lists, pop music, songs of the decade, the skin of my yellow country teeth