Pitchfork

We indie rock fans know and love Sean Greenhalgh as the drummer in Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. But the man behind the beat on "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" has been leading a double life: For the past six years, Greenhalgh has played the part of Axl Rose in Mr. Brownstone, the self-proclaimed "World's Drunkest" Guns n' Roses tribute band. (The group also features former CYHSY manager Dave Godowsky as Izzy Stradlin.) They've rocked dive bars up and down the East Coast, and even played Bonnaroo, gaining a loyal following of folks disgruntled by the absence (until recently) of the real GN'R.

Says Mr. Brownstone's website, "Swaying back and forth and beckoning the crowd, Sean has mastered Axl's patented stage moves. Sean's vocal ability allows him the range to flawlessly mimic every element of Axl's voice, from the low grumbles to the high-pitched wails."

Alas, come this July, those low grumbles and high-pitched wails will only be heard in the shower, as Mr. Brownstone are hanging up their leather and flannel and calling it quits. They have two final shows scheduled: June 10 at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City and July 15 at the Paradise in Boston.

"We've claimed to be playing our 'final shows' more often than Axl has claimed that Chinese Democracy is coming out," Greenhalgh told Pitchfork via email. "But this time it's for real.

"We've decided to call it quits for a few reasons. We never intended this band to go on for as long as it did. It started off as a college joke and grew into a successful piece of regional musical theater. We've been trying to quit for the past five years, but it's just been more fun to get paid to get drunk and play dress up than to not. Another reason is that we've all got original projects or real jobs now that require too much of our time."

As for how his time as Axl has affected his experience with CYHSY, Greenhalgh said, "I think in the early days with Clap, the experience of playing in front of larger crowds with Brownstone helped out a bunch as far as nerves were concerned. (There was a time when Brownstone's draw surpassed that of CYHSY.) You get comfortable being in front of people, or at least familiar with it.

But don't expect to hear hair-metal influences in Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. "I tried to get the band to cover "Patience" one night at the Troubador in LA, but they weren't having any of it," Greenhalgh said. "I did manage to slip in the opening beat to "Paradise City" before the encore as an homage to my adolescent heroes.

"GN'R are in no way an inspiration for CYHSY, but the other guys would grudgingly admit that Appetite for Destruction is at least a good album. I always thought (at least early) GN'R had a pretty punk approach to the music for a bunch of cock-rockers. Izzy and Duff learned their instruments about a year before they recorded Appetite, but both wrote great, important parts for that album. That's definitely an approach that suits me. You do the best you can within your given limitations."

So what's Greenhalgh's take on the recent resurrection of Guns n' Roses? "I heard a bunch of leaked demos while we were in Europe this winter. As someone who can say they love Use Your Illusion II with a straight face, it was shocking to hear how bad the new demos were. Shocking. I actually did get to see the new GN'R at Hammerstein Ballroom when they were in NYC a couple of weeks ago. Axl actually sounded pretty good, but the new band lacks the bluesy looseness and sense of danger of the old one. You get the sense that these guys get fined if they fuck up. I'll take a coked-up, drunk out of his mind Slash any day over these guys. Either that, or I'm just not 12 years old anymore. Not sure."

With Mr. Brownstone out of the picture, it's full steam ahead for Greenhalgh and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. "The Clap is headed into the studio for a bit starting next week," he said. "We're playing Bonnaroo in the States and then we're headed all over the place (Europe, Australia, Japan) in July. Beyond that, nothing to report."

So there you have it.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah dates:

06-17 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
06-29 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
06-30 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter Festival
07-01 St. Gallen, Switzerland - St. Gallen Festival
07-02 Montreaux, Switzerland - Montreux Jazz Festival
07-05 Kristiansand, Norway - Quart Festival
07-07 London, England - London Forum
07-08 Balado, Scotland - T in the Park
07-09 Naas, Ireland - Oxegen Festival
07-20 Melbourne, Australia - TBA
07-22 Sydney, Australia - TBA
07-23 Byron Bay, Australia - Splendour in the Grass
07-29 Yuzawa-machi, Japan - Fuji Rock Festival
08-25 Paris, France - Rock en Seine
08-26 Reading, England - Reading Festival
08-27 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival
09-28 New York, NY - Central Park

As previously reported, CYHSY frontman Alec Ounsworth will perform at New York City's Beacon Theatre on June 23 as part of the "We're Doing It for Love" benefit concert for Love's Arthur Lee. Robert Plant, Ryan Adams, Yo La Tengo, Ian Hunter, Nils Lofgren, and Garland Jeffreys will also perform.