Phenomenal Handclap Band – Form & Control
Review by Jack Foley
THE sophomore album from self-styled New York collective the Phenomenal Handclap Band aims for coolness and almost succeeds.
Produced by Mike Chapman at London’s legendary RAK Studios, home of prime slices of ‘70s glam, soul and disco, the album sets out to honour a wide ranging set of influences from The Human League, MGMT, Fleetwood Mac and Black Devil Disco Club to Justice, Hercules & Love Affair, Blondie and The Steve Miller Band.
It does so by couching the ensuing tracks in a slick disco-funk style that oozes hip-swinging grooviness. But while certainly a pleasant listen it lacks a definitive kind of cool of its own. The influences are perhaps a little too evident.
Album opener Following, for instance, is a slick mix of Blondie and Steve Miller that even has a touch of Scissor Sisters about it. It’s a disco floor-filler that’s rooted in the ‘70s and it’s a good enough starting point.
But The Right One is too similar in copying the same kind of thing. It even samples The Human League’s Don’t You Want Me?, thereby underlining the band’s passions as opposed to really just paying homage and doing their own thing.
The Unknown Faces At Father James Park, meanwhile, sounds like Calvin Harris mixed with Ladytron while set against a ‘70s laced organ context.
Far better, and where the album really comes into its own, are tracks like Shake, which drop a genuinely funky beat, some Tangerine Dream-style synths and a sharp set of boy-girl vocals that are intermittently broken up by the word ‘shake’. It’s when the handclap element of the band’s name really does come into play, as well as their desire to make your hips swing.
Title track Form & Control, meanwhile, combines some terrific piano contrasts with a cinematic scope that offers another highlight.
And Afterglow hits you with a blues-rock kind of vibe that’s more akin to The Heavy or Pop Levi… albeit with a less psychedelic vocal approach. It’s another favourite.
The rock vibe is present again on Winter Falls, which one more descends into a funky strut befitting the style of The Heavy, while this time retaining a more overtly psychedelic haze… before All Clichés has a disco-pop-rock vibe that’s also pretty darn toe-tapping.
Indeed, once the album moves more away from disco into rockier, MGMT-informed territory, it fares much better and ends stronger than it begins.
Mirrors combines more good guitar work with some humming organs and slick, Lalo Schiffrin style beat-making, as well as a falsetto vocal that lends it that funky vibe the band so often seek. And The Attempt rounds things off with a spaced out intro that gives rise to some more funky hooks, organs and handclap beats. If anything, there’s a sharp mix of Stone Roses style haze and glam-rock disco tendencies and it’s a good departure point… leaving the type of smile on your face the band was probably seeking from the start.
Put together, it’s a bit of a mixed bag (as quoting from so many influences might suggest). But when it’s good, it’s really, really enjoyable and worth seeking out for those moments alone.
Download picks: Shake, Form & Control, Afterglow, Winter Falls, Mirrors, The Attempt
Track listing: