Sometimes a band suddenly appear and thanks to that old favourite, word of mouth, everyone seems to be talking about them. It happened this year with Arcade Fire and now, thanks to a whole army of internet bloggers raving about them, next year looks set to belong to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
The New York band not only have the coolest name of recent times, but their music lives up to expectations as well. Lead singer Alec Ounsworth's vocals are very obviously influenced by mavericks such as David Byrne and Jonathan Richman, and the song has an incessently jerky, relentless rhythm. It's very odd, it's resolutely offbeat and it may well leave you cold the first time you hear it.
Yet stick with it, for after a couple of listens it becomes one of the most addictive little songs you'll hear all year - not to mention the fact that it includes the lyric "do the zarathrusta" which must surely earn it extra brownie points. Word has it from across the Atlantic that the forthcoming album is just as good - get ready to welcome the coolest band of 2006.
