Video: Tristan Clopet Covers Vampire Weekend’s “Cousins”

The handsome Canadian transplant Tristan Clopet is something of a musical anomaly on the local scene. With his band, the Juice, he skips both the indie flavors of the week and the super-commercial aspirations of others around town. Instead, his music recalls those heady days of the early ’90s, when the bands of the so-called burgeoning “alternative” scene dipped deep into the wells of different genres without worrying. 
More concretely, on the band’s more uptempo moments, the guys sound a hell of a lot like the Red Hot Chili Peppers. But the funk stylings remain even in the slower numbers, which float into outer space on some serious slap bass. But what keeps all of this from sounding like a hot mess — after all, many have tried and failed miserably at replicating the Peppers formula — is the band is super skilled. These serious players stop, start, and rev things up without flinching, and as a vocalist, Clopet is masterful at taking energy levels up and down.
This video finds him solo in the studio, on a more chilled-out, stripped-down tip. It’s part of a cover song series on YouTube he calls the Living Room Sessions. It’s no wonder he’d tackle a song by Vampire Weekend — after all, Clopet lists Simon & Garfunkel among his top MySpace friends. And dig that beautiful Les Paul!
Check out his web site, and if you like what you hear, download his new EP, Purple, here.