We’re getting to the point in the nostalgia cycle where people are starting to memorialize the early 2010s. In the past few days, I’ve started seeing the term “stomp clap hey” used to refer to the kind of acoustic folk-pop style that was popular at the time with a lot of indie bands that managed to scratch the mainstream - Mumford & Sons, Of Monsters and Men, the Head and the Heart, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, Bastille, the Lumineers, etc. (I’m pretty sure the name that’s retroactively being given to the genre derives from the Lumineers’ “Ho Hey”.)
The purpose of this thread is to share examples of stomp clap hey that you enjoy, or to say why you enjoy or dislike the genre, or both. Personally, I thought it was a nice alternative to the overproduced pop that was dominating the charts at the time, though as an aging millennial I understand why Gen Z thinks it’s corny as hell.
Here’s one of my favorite examples of the genre from the Lumineers.
I’m not sure that I understand exactly what you’re referring to by “stomp, clap, hey” music. Your video is a pretty standard song; I’d call it “country” more than anything else. Acoustic-guitar-based, tenor singer—might as well be Phil Vassar, except Vassar is a slightly lower tenor, and he’s a pianist primarily. Still, the similarities are there.
I think of “stomp clap hey” music as traditional Maritime/Appalachian/British Isles music. Songs that get your foot stomping, your hands clapping, and you shouting “Hey!” when the song calls for it. Which it doesn’t always do. Examples would include “Farewell to Nova Scotia,” “The Rattlin’ Bog,” “The Mary Ellen Carter,” and “Orange Blossom Special.”
I fail to see where your video example fits with any of the above. It has a great beat and you can dance to it, but it doesn’t encourage me to stomp, clap, or shout “Hey!” at any point. Perhaps you might define what you’re looking for further?
Hipster pop. Acoustic guitar and banjo and accordion and angsty lyrics. The type of music that might be enjoyed by a mustachioed gentleman sipping IPA in a brewpub.
It’s folk. Up-tempo folk with lots of instruments and maybe some grunge-inspired lyrics. Nothing wrong with folk. I like it.
My theory is that it originated with Bruce Springsteen’s 2006 album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, where he covered a bunch of old folk-songs in his typically energetic Springsteen fashion. Look at this and tell me you can’t see the genesis of the Lumineers and the Mumfords:
But I’d say Shaboozey is the current sped-up version of the same sorta country sorta workin’ class rhythmic ballad genre. Easy to feel for the narrator’s plight while singing along.
It’s also the case that the instrumental part of all his songs are very similar. You could damned near sing the words to any one over the music of another. Or at least so it seems to me.
I don’t know if it qualifies or not, but when I think of “stomp clap hey” the first song that comes to mind is The D’Ampton Worm Song from Ken Russell’s The Lair Of The White Worm.
Given my ‘70s–80s youth of listening to prog rock, blues, metal, reggae, and world music, I was unable to appreciate the subtleties of alternative rock. It all sounds beige to me.
I’d not heard the term “Stomp Clap Hey” before now, but upon seeing the title of the thread, I was pretty sure that I knew what it referred to – and I was right.
I listen to SiriusXM a lot, and one of my favorite stations on it is The Spectrum, which is a mix of modern alternative rock and some classic rock; Stomp Clap Hey groups are a big part of their playlist. I like several of those bands (particularly Of Monsters and Men and The Head and the Heart) quite a bit, though they do all start to blend a little bit in my head after a while.
In 2018 or 2019, some friends of mine (who are about my age) invited me to go with them to see Mumford and Sons in concert. I probably knew three or four of their songs (due to hearing them on The Spectrum), but I thought it would be fun to go. I had a good time, though what struck me was:
Yes, all of their songs did sound very similar to each other
We were clearly 30+ years older than 90% of the audience
If I were the kind of guy who went to see local bands doing live shows (I want to be, but I’m more of a homebody), I would love stomp clap hey bands. They’re fun, catchy, and energizing. As a pop genre, it was never going to be long-lived, but I don’t understand the hate it got. For that matter, I don’t understand why ever trend that hits big and then fades out gets so much hate. Well, scratch that, I do get it – the first few pop cycles you go through feel momentous, and then you realize what’s happening and how everything will come and go. I guess it’s just a maturity thing?
Anyway, I was never a fan, like I never made stomp clap hey playlists, but I like the songs. I just think they’re best suited for small crowds and hanging with friends.
In every genre you’re not familiar with, all songs initially sound similar to each other. It took me years to realize there was more than one rap song.
I think I first heard the term a week or two ago and also guessed what they meant. Whatever algorithm metrics genre chasing nonsense rules the world has fed this term to me maybe six times in the last 10 days via YouTube video titles so I guess it’s the term now.
I still have a Lumineers song or two in my greater song library (though one of them is Classy Girls which is less stompy than the norm) and remember liking Of Monsters & Men well enough though they never made it onto a song list for me. I have no issues with the genre as a whole though it was indeed a product of its time. It seems in my mind that such folk should be timeless (we’ve been stomping and clapping since the cave days) but, nah, it’s very 2010s.
@Joey_P , that’s a nice summary/education, thanks for sharing. I generally don’t like the genre, in part because the writing arranging and production all sound the same.
I suppose some of my dislikes could apply to other genres- certainly blues, rock, and jazz musicians follow well-worn paths and tropes. But I think if music is going to be 'the same’ as other music, it should have something that makes it stand out, whether it’s deeply skilled playing, challenging emotions, or good narrative arc. Stomp clap hey music is often missing those elements, and rarely has any surprises- it’s one feeling of reverbed nostalgia and longing from start to finish every time.
Nostalgic bluegrass for the dance/club scene.
It was interesting to watch the video @Joey_P shared, as there were a lot of bands and songs I hadn’t heard (or heard in a while) that the author positions as precursors to ‘stomp clap hey’, with a lot of interesting writing and sounds. Somehow it all coalesced into a generic oneness.
(Of the biggest stomp clap hey hits, I’d say the one I actually quite like is Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons. Maybe it’s the use of “fuck”, but the vibe of the song is just not as twee as most others).
I also am willing to admit that I was probably turned off to the genre by the lyrics “Alabama Arkansas, I do love my maw and paw, but not the way that I do love you”, and anything that reminds me of that song inspires a feeling of revulsion.
