Alec Ounsworth — Mo Beauty

A lot of people dislike Alec Ounsworth and it may be with good reason. Someone has to take the fall for having torpedoed Clap Your Hands Say Yeah with a difficult sophomore disc, and Ounsworth is the most visible target.

In light of statements he's made about the songs on Mo Beauty being "mostly old," one has to wonder if he sunk Clap Your Hands Say Yeah on purpose. Ounsworth's warbling voice aside, that band wouldn't have sounded right trying to play this album.

The haters can keep on hating, but it won't change the fact that Mo Beauty is a rock-solid record. Ounsworth sounds good whether he's trying his hand at acoustic sentimentality ("Holy, Holy, Holy Moses (Song For New Orleans)") or sweeping, orchestral grandiosity ("That Is Not My Home (After Bruegel)"). Who needs Clap Your Hands Say Yeah when we're getting music of this caliber out of their frontman?

Mo Beauty's most instantly memorable track, "Bones In The Grave," is a mess of jangling crashes, out-of-tune guitars and erratic drumming that could very well be the soundtrack to the scene taking place on the album's rear, where it appears as if the statue David — turned partially into a cyborg — is waltzing with an upside-down skeleton. If that's the kinda party you're into, Ounsworth is right up your alley.

Get it from