Just at the very beginning of the buzz of Brooklyn’s Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, lead singer Alec Ounsworth played a free ‘solo’ show at the tiny Pete’s Candy Store, in Williamsburg. I was completely hooked on the (then new) CYHSY! record, and jumped at the chance to get any live variant that I possibly could. I was surprised but completely impressed with Alec’s side project, which featured a much more twangy, folk-rock side of the singer-songwriter. As I mentioned in my review of Band of Horses on Sunday, I’m not usually drawn to this end of the rock spectrum. If anything, that night made me more greatly appreciate Alec Ounsworth’s talent, as he eschewed the dance-rock guitar driven sound of CYHSY!, for that of acoustic guitar, harmonica, lap steel and brushed drums.
To be honest, CYHSY has probably grown in popularity to the point where I won’t go see them play at the scale of venue they can fill, so I was excited to hear that Alec was playing a couple of shows at Joe’s Pub with his side project. Listed only as ‘Flashy Python and the Body Snatchers’, the show flew WAY under the radar, and did not even sell out. Joe’s Pub is probably the perfect place to see a show like this, with it’s intimate table seating, and amazing sound. Alec began the show alone, with voice, acoustic guitar and harmonica, playing 3 songs, including a stirring version of Clap Your Hands’ ‘Details of the War’. After that, his backing band came out and they played for another hour. For those of you familiar with his demos (sorry, his site flashypython.com is gone), nearly all of the songs he played were new, save ‘Dee, oh Dee’. If Ounsworth is channeling David Bryne in Clap Your Hands, he could definitely be confused as a young Bob Dylan, with his mouth organ and guitar. I say this more as a compliment than a criticism as his songs of politics, religion, whiskey and beer are folk music at its core. I feel that Alec Ounsworth is a tremendous talent, as singer, musician and songwriter that can obviously bridge various musical styles and boundaries. It seems his ability to continue to make great music is as limitless as his palette.
: Alec Ounsworth – Dee, Oh Dee :
: Alec Ounsworth – WXPN Interview + 3 songs :
