The overnight success of CYHSY’s 2005 self-titled debut – an independent release from an unknown band that went on to sell over 100,000 copies – begged for a follow-up. But when your first record so elegantly blends the distorted fuzz of the Velvet Underground with the odd-noise embellishments of the Polyphonic Spree that you are said to have reinvented pop music, it’s hard to live up to expectations.

Just as opening track “”Clap Your Hands!”” set the tone for their debut, “”Some Loud Thunder”” lets us know that this won’t be the same cheery pop merry-go-round ride. CYHSY create a violent harmony, layering mumbled vocals over the melodic tempo of new producer Dave Fridmann (the man behind the Flaming Lips).

At first the music burns, but soon we warm up to that raw grate, as comforting as Neutral Milk Hotel but with the addictive, hard beats of LCD Soundsystem. The third track begins in lullaby with soft, chanting murmurs, until steady maracas swing us to climatic trance – but just when we start to get comfortable, the thrilling beat of “”Yankee Go Home”” shakes it back up with slow guitar purrs cut-and-pasted between hard, blaring drums until the body thrashes in delight.

But all of the wonder – imaginative sounds, raspy vocals and intricate layering – was on the first record, making the greatest flaw of their newest a basic lack of ingenuity. It isn’t pouring on Some Loud Thunder, but if you forget about that beautiful thunderstorm of old and focus on the current, you won’t care that it’s just drizzling outside.