An Internet Phenomenon

A True Over Night Sensation

A little known group (which is quickly gaining popularity) has been through the unthinkable. The "discovery" began when a blogger saw their name on an MP3 site and was both "attracted and repulsed" by the name and he had to download the song. The Group's name - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

The blogger loved it - wrote about it -and then within 2 weeks the band was all over the internet and all types of blogs and then the single was reviewed on Pitchfork magazine. Soon thereafter they were reviewed in numerous big city magazines and finally the entire album had a review on Pitchfork. They weren't even on a label or had a distribution company - so they were in their homes burning cd's, licking stamps, and personally sending cd's out to people writing in their cd orders.

They went from selling a few hundred cd's at shows to 10,000 after the buzz got all over the internet. And recently they have decided to join a label and have sold over 25,000 cds - which is a lot for the indie world.

The singer didn't even know what Pitchfork was - he got an email from a friend congratulating him on the review - and only then was starting to realize what was happening.

Read NPR's story about the power of the internet and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!

Personally I find Clap Your Hands to be catchy but I can't understand a word they say - so I often make fun of it. It sounds kinda like a lot of moaning but the beat is definitely catchy and will stick in your head all day. It took awhile for me to actually start to understand it. But Elad and my friend Danya have loved the album for a few months now.