Alex Winston uses soaring melodies to battle con men galore on debut album
Knitting Factory Brooklyn
381 Metropolitan Ave.
Tuesday, April 24, $10-$12, 8:00
347-529-6696
bk.knittingfactory.com
www.myspace.com/alexwinston
Brooklyn-based Detroit native Alex Winston makes delightfully infectious music that mixes the vocal range of Kate Bush with girl-group harmonies, Asian influences, and a DIY aesthetic. Following a series of EPs including 2010’s The Basement Covers, which featured unique versions of such songs as the Rolling Stones’ “Play with Fire” and Mumford & Sons’ “The Cave,” Winston has released her debut full-length album, King Con (V2/Cooperative, April 10, 2012), a dozen tracks that show off her skills admirably. While the music and production might be bright, playful, and energetic, the lyrics reveal a young woman taking control of her life after some questionable, complicated relationships with lovers and untrustworthy con artists. “God damn, you’re back again / try to crawl under my skin / it fuels your fire / feeds the flame / ’cause ants like you are all the same / and you keep a-marching,” she proclaims over a propulsive beat on the album opener, “Fire Ant.” Switching to a sweet 1950s melody on the next song, “Velvet Elvis,” Winston declares, “Ma said I ain’t right / clutching on you all night . . . I’ll kill the bitch that bats any eye / at Elvis.” Such tracks as “Medicine,” “Sister Wife,” and “Choice Notes” are impossibly catchy, bouncy pop in which Winston searches for a happiness that is hard to come by. “I think I gotta go alone,” she sings in “The Fold.” Displaying so many choice notes, Winston, a classically trained multi-instrumentalist, won’t be going alone for long. Winston, who also makes entertaining videos and is preparing short documentaries to accompany King Con, will be at the Knitting Factory Brooklyn on April 24 with Deidre & the Dark and 1,2,3.