Young psychedelic sextet the Uglysuit construct big, catchy, sunny pop songs. The good-time feeling’s something the Oklahoma City band clearly embraces: Sunflowers cover their eyes in one of their promo photos, another picture depicts a field of the plants in bloom. The words “psychedelic” and “Oklahoma” may evoke the Flaming Lips, but on the Uglysuit’s self-titled Touch & Go debut, the guitar atmospherics, piano, keyboard, and layered voices backing frontman Israel Hindman are more comparable to a happier take on another Ugly band: Isaac Brock’s Ugly Casanova. For all the elements, it’s also a strikingly clean sound. The group’s reportedly played together since their early teens, which could account for the seamlessness, as well as their ability to pull off the tracks shorthanded and without any help from the studio.
The premise of our new series Decomposed is to invite bands to perform in a stripped-down environment. In the Uglysuit’s case, the six-piece becomes a three-piece and album standout “Chicago” becomes less anthemic and more insular and sad. On record, “Brownblue’s Passing” propels itself with orchestral swells and instrumental flourishes; here, it’s a knotty, folk ballad. And while the upbeat, marching “Iceland” makes use of Olivia Tremor Control/early oM vocal effects on The Uglysuit, in this unplugged rendition, Hindman & Co. sound just as good and gain a certain emotional rawness without the studio cushion. Sometimes when a band unplugs, it magnifies weaknesses. Other times, as happens here, it deepens your understanding of the group, adding a depth to material you thought you knew pretty well.
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WOW! I wish you could download these songs. They sound great.
I never knew how the Uglysuit would sound as a stripped down folksy act, but they really sound fantastic. Whoever the female vocalist is has a great voice that complimented the lead singer’s very well.
Nice dutch, not!
excellent boys. way to go.
I didn’t think there was a girl singer in the band. She adds a great singing part to the songs that she does. Right on.
Who’s the girl singer? Leslie Feist?
Rebecca Marie Miller is the woman. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything about her.
I love The Uglysuit. myspace.com/bravetheday & myspace.com/rebeccamariemiller
sounds great rebecca! You chose wisely in letting her sing with you…look up brave the day , which was her former band in harrisburg Pa.
Rebecca you sound amazing. Cali is lucky to have you! I really dig this song!
Amazing band, you rock!! Glad you got to tour Europe, US – East Coast and West Coast!
I felt priviledged to make it to a few of your west coast gigs. Look forward to seeing you on your future tours!!
Jude
you guys rock! wish i could see you! my sister saw you guys on the 16 last night.she wished she could hear you play.
I had to watch this twice. I was too busy drooling over Miller the first time that I wasn’t sure if I heard an actual note of the song.
I really like this song acoustic. I think I even like it better.
does anybody know the tuning for this song? its been annoying me for ages now!