Only Run

Only Run features a leaner band pulling together to survive. Longtime Clap Your Hands Say Yeah members Robbie Guertin and Tyler Sargent quit the band in 2012, and rather than fill their positions, the remaining players agreed to cover more ground as a duo. Singer/songwriter Alec Ounsworth also plays the guitars and keyboards, with drummer Sean Greenhalgh sticking with percussion and synth programming. This less-is-more approach means a cutback in the group's art-rock explorations and a greater emphasis on dance-oriented, postpunk grooves. The title track is a dance floor candidate until the songs breaks to a standstill midway through, as if to say "not so fast." Fortunately, tunes like “Coming Down” (with The National’s Matt Berninger adding a spoken-word piece) and “Impossible Request” lock into their paces. Elsewhere, mood runs the game. “As Always” works off an idea that The Cure first developed in the early to mid-‘80s. Programmed synths give a lift to “Little Moments.” The somber side is represented with the harrowing “Your Advice.”