Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Alec Ounsworth's back, and he's brought a message from beyond: "Satan Said Dance." In the distance, you hear his band, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and the sonic chaos the quintet has wrought from some netherworld. Electricity charges the air, and a spacey disco bass line pulsates. Pianos catch fire, horns wheeze static, guitars crackle into dust, and Ounsworth's voice -- obviously possessed by the spirit of Thom Yorke -- pleads, "Don't you stop 'til you hit the ground."

At its core, Some Loud Thunder, the band's second album, ignites with the same beautifully frenzied rock and roll that made critics fawn over the avant-pop outfit's 2005 debut, but this new set is more nebulous and necromantic (a bold departure for Ounsworth, who writes most of the songs). Canticles like "Emily Jean Stock" entice you with innocent and soulful sunshine rock, only to suck you into a bombastic world of garage-fried sound 'n' fury. Self-produced and distributed without a label, Some Loud Thunder is a bold, new-wave séance that just might resurrect the ghosts of the Talking Heads and Television. Now move your ass -- Satan said dance.