The Phenomenal Handclap Band
The Phenomenal Handclap Band is a tight-knit aggregation of musicians and artists from Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. At the center of it is Daniel Collás, the Witch Doctor, and Sean Marquand, the Medicine Man; who, after years of searching and contemplation, through live performance and the manipulation of recorded music, have finally succeeded in assembling the personification of their holy vision: Patrick Wood, Nicholas Movshon, Luke O’Malley, Laura Marin, Quinn Luke, and Joan Tick, enhanced by the remarkable talents of Aurelio Valle, Carol C, Jaleel Bunton, Bart Davenport, Jon Spencer, and Lady Tigra, among carefully chosen others.
Together they have crafted a sound that is equal parts anthemic, dancefloor-oriented and orchestral, borrowing elements from progressive rock, disco, electro, and psychedelia.
Live, The Phenomenal Handclap Band is distilled to an eight-member powerhouse, an eye-popping spectacle that overwhelms the senses. It pulses with a savage rhythm section that provides the ultimate foil for cascading guitars and electrified washes of organ and synthesizers. Their delirious sermonizing whips crowds into a charismatic frenzy. Needless to say, their live shows are more akin to a spiritual church revival than an actual rock show.
‘Musically diverse, incredibly melodic and dance-floor ready. It’s the kind of album that gives cookie-cutter pop the trashing it deserves.’
– New York Post
‘The PHB are astronauts of progressive soul, moored at the stellar point where rock, funk and psychedelia bloom into cosmic-disco amazingness.’
- Guardian UK
