Clap Your Hands Say Yeah frontman Alec Ounsworth is the latest in 2009 to release a solo album (others have included Interpol's Paul Banks and My Morning Jacket's Jim James while The Strokes' Julian Casablancas is set to release his solo debut next week). Ounsworth's album Mo Beauty is quite a step away from the CYHSY sound (even though his nasally voice carries over to this album). Recorded away from his NYC stomping ground in the south's New Orleans, Ounsworth tries to make an album that embodies the area's history and lifestyle. "Bones to the Grave" attempts to relay some of the trademark "New Orleans oddness" with its use of a carnival-like organ and big band horns appear here and there (most predominantly on "Idiots in the Rain"; but the end result is neither well put together nor memorable to the ears. Elsewhere, acoustic instruments dominate the song as he attempts to establish a kind of southern atmosphere, however, it only exemplifies his inadequacies as a songwriter. And this is the problem that plagues all of Mo Beauty. Ounsworth set out with an obviously optimistic sound/scope but instead is muddled by his average ability as a songwriter. Even though his enlisted a talented group of well-known musicians (Galactic's Stanton Moore and The Meter's George Porter, Jr.) to help fill out his sound, Ounsworth's attempt at a piece of regional music appreciation is merely that, an attempt with a none-too-pleasing end result.
3.2/5.0
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