• "Devil Town" - Friday Night Lights Soundtrack, Tony Lucca

I woke up one morning with the lyrics "All my friends were vampires," looping in my head and couldn't figure out why. Turns out I'd subconsciously absorbed the soundtrack from the High School football drama on NBC. "Devil Town" is sung broodingly by former Mickey Mouse Club member Tony Lucca, but it was originally written and performed by Daniel Johnston sans handclaps. Lucca's rendition successfully sets the mood for Texan teen angst, and melancholy handclap songs are an extremely rare find. -KF

• "Before I Knew" - Oh, My Darling, Basia Bulat

Canadian Basia Bulat is a multi-instrumentalist, but is best known as an autoharpist. Though the opening track of her debut album "Before I Knew" does not feature her autoharp skills, she manages to evoke the feeling of the overall sound that will come. From the first strum of the ukulele and the cadence of hand claps, her sweet lulling voice warms my heart. Only a fleeting minute and 10 seconds that I wish would last longer. -SC

• "As Tall As Cliffs" - Animal, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's

The gang of eight from Indianapolis, Indiana made two versions of their second album. They struggled to produce what their record label wanted (Not Animal) and their version (Animal). "As Tall As Cliffs" makes an appearance on both albums and rightly so. Percussionist Casey Tennis does wonders with all sorts of bottles and cans, not to mention handclaps to open the track. His timing and beat can be best displayed in la blogotheque's take-away show, where Margot plays the track at Lone Mountain on the USF campus. -SC

• "Market Girl" - Some Racing, Some Stopping, Headlights

Headlights' "Market Girl" carries a fast-beat introduction complete with furiously snappy, handclaps of course. This Champaign, Illinois based outfit races into this song only to slow down for the chorus "She's a market girl." The female and male vocals provided by Tristan Wraight and Erin Fein bounce beautifully off each other. It's only fitting that the album is entitled Some Racing, Some Stopping because that's exactly how this tune can be described. -SC

• "No One Does It Like You" - In Ear Park, Department of Eagles

Department of Eagles could be a precursor of Daniel Rossen's other band Grizzly Bear, with similar harmonies and lo-fi arrangements. In 2000, Daniel and NYU roommate Fred Nicholas were two freshmen creating tracks out of their dorm room and their first release (The Cold Nose, 2003) even garnered acclaim from the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Although there were rumors that the second Department of Eagles record was causing friction with Grizzly Bear's Ed Droste, there's nothing a few handclaps can't fix. It is beautifully demonstrated with the first single from In Ear Park, "No One Does It Like You" in which the claps open up to Dan's ghostly vocals. You can't help but sway and bounce to the tambourine and handclaps. -SC

• "My Girls" - Merriweather Post Pavillion, Animal Collective

Animal Collective's new album dropped in late January and according to NPR's Song of the day, "My Girls" is the album's most accessible track. This song may already be overplayed for those who will adamantly claim they listened to the band long before it hit mainstream interweb radio waves. And the handclap vibe may actually be a result of drum-tapping as evidenced by the song's new video, but if you still need to acquire a taste for Animal Collective, this track will grab your attention. The band is rumored to be working on a movie that will resemble the images we see in our heads when we hear their music. For me, that movie already exists. It's called Captain EO, a short film that premiered in 3-D at Disneyworld in '86 starring Michael Jackson and alien puppets. -KF

• "Mingus" - Who Killed Harry Houdini?, I'm From Barcelona

I'm from Barcelona is actually from Sweden. Play their song "Barcelona Loves You" when you're down in the dumps because hearing 30 people sing "we're all in love with you" will cheer you up pretty quickly. This band rarely misses a clapping opportunity and "Mingus," a track from their new album, is no exception. -KF

• "5 Years Time" - Peaceful, the Worlds Lays Me Down, Noah and the Whale

In addition to handclaps, Noah and the Whale do a lot of whistling on this track. The song is about relationships possibly dissolving in five years and it might not be considered a happy tune if it weren't for the whistling, the handclaps, and the perfect pairing of Charlie Fink's lead vocals and teenager Laura Marling's folksy lulls on backing vocals. Marling is a singer in her own right and Fink produced the tunes for her debut album, "Alas I Cannot Swim." Check them out together on Black Cab Sessions.-SC

• "The Opposite of Hallelujah" - Night Falls At Kortedala, Jens Lekman

Adorable Swede Jens Lekman doles out the hand claps like candy in "The Opposite of Hallelujah." If hand claps could be toe taps, this is the best illustration. The rhythm on display is free flowing and fancy free. Lekman's lyrics add an even more jaunty goodness. He croons, "I picked up a sea-shell to illustrate my homelessness but a crab crawled out of it making it useless." Insert collective "awwww" here. -SC

• "I like it, I love it" - Everywhere at Once, Lyrics Born

Lyrics Born spent part of his youth in Berkeley, attended UC Davis, and is probably best known for the hit "Callin' Out," which was used in a Diet Coke commercial starring a strutting Adrien Brody. Five years later, his second full-length studio album produced the comparably catchy "I like it, I love it." Lyric's lyrics are super cliché on this cut, but the handclap-infused beat should get your ass moving. CLAP, CLAP! -KF