To some extent, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are the quintessential "dogged by their debut" band. Despite some fine moments and an indisputable sonic evolution in the intervening years, main protagonist Alec Ounsworth has never quite recaptured the magic of that eponymous 2005 album.

Their fifth record doesn't fully hit its stride either, although there are some interesting tracks. In between the sputtering experimentalism of A Chance to Cure and the overwrought Visiting Hours, the ragged, bustling strum of Down (Is Where I Want to Be), the woozy groove of Fireproof and the defiant indiepop of Better Off glimmer.

Ounsworth's kooky falsetto remains his unique selling point, but it's difficult to fully absorb this cluttered, albeit occasionally enjoyable, mix of styles. cyhsy.com