Clap Your Hands Say Yeah members clap their hands and say “nah”

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah members clap their hands and say "nah"

Oh, the perils of having a critically acclaimed debut album, trying mightily to fulfill expectations with subsequent albums, and not quite reaching the level of success that one would hope. That’s just me offering some healthy speculation, because multi-instrumentalist Robbie Guertin and bassist Tyler Sargent are keeping quiet so far about the specific reasons for their departure from the quintessential indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Still, the aforementioned members made their intentions clear in a couple of posts to the band’s website last week.

You can read the individual posts here and here, but here are a couple of relevant excerpts. First, Guertin writes, “I’m writing to let you know that our upcoming New York show will be my last with the band. Being a member of Clap has been an incredible experience, but I have decided to move on and see what’s next. I will continue to make music with my other band, Radical Dads, pursue miscellaneous artistic endeavors, and also grow some vegetables. I am excited to see what else might come my way. Maybe some tomatoes?”

The show in New York this past Saturday was Sargent’s final foray with the band as well, as he wrote a couple days after Guertin: “I am very proud of what this band has accomplished over the past eight years, and I will miss playing with such talented musicians. I wish Alec, Sean and Lee the best of luck with whatever CYHSY does in the future. I wish Robbie the best of luck with his musical and horticultural endeavors. As for me, I am currently in the process of forming a presidential exploratory committee for 2016.”

There’s little word on what Guertin and Sargent’s absence will mean for the band itself (as it currently exists), but I can’t imagine the mood among remaining members is one conducive to hand-clapping — maybe tear-shedding or inebriated songwriting, but not hand-clapping. And certainly no “yeah”-saying.

• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: http://clapyourhandssayyeah.com

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