Working in his basement studio in Philadelphia, he would test new material on acoustic guitar at a weekly, two-song slot at a drag performance at local venue L'Etage.

He soon formed a band, consisting of drummer Sean Greenhalgh, keyboardist/guitarist Robbie Guertin, and brothers Lee (guitar/vocals) and Tyler (bass) Sargent, and would frequently commute to New York for rehearsal.

Tracks from the album have been used for numerous TV shows, movies, and advertising, such as Looking For Alaska ("The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth"), Microsoft Xbox ("Sunshine and Clouds (And Everything Proud)") and Visa ("Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood").

[citation needed] As with the first record, the band remained defiantly independent, refusing to sign deals that compromised their artistic vision or cashed in on their burgeoning reputation.

[7] The song "Satan Said Dance" was used for numerous audio-video synchronization such as in Clark Gregg and Chuck Palahniuk's Choke, and Ryan Philippe's Catch Hell.

The album highlighted his affinity for the people of the city after the devastation, with producer Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) and Ounsworth hiring local greats like George Porter (Meters, Allen Toussaint) and Stanton Moore (Galactic), Robert Walter, and many more.

[9] At the same time, Ounsworth produced Skin And Bones, a record with a group of friends including Matt Barrick (The Walkmen), Scott McMicken and Toby Leaman of Dr. Dog and Quentin Stolzfus (Mazarin, Light Heat) amongst others, which was self-released on vinyl and online as Flashy Python.

Throughout this period, the band also appeared several times on primetime TV, invited by David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, and Jimmy Fallon among others, and remained true to their artistic vision and independence – the rise of MySpace and blogging, and the very early iterations of social media, helped with finding new, organic ways to connect to their audience.

[citation needed] Recorded once again with David Fridmann in his remote cabin studio, Only Run included collaborations with Kid Koala and The National's Matt Berninger.

The album was mainly produced by Ounsworth with additional production by Will Johnson, recorded with engineer Britton Beisenherz at Ramble Creek Austin, and mixed by John Agnello at Kaleidoscope Studios over 2019.

Alongside Ounsworth, New Fragility features Johnson on drums and Beisenherz on bass, as well as touring members bassist Todd Erk and drummer Jonas Oesterle, and a string quartet conducted and arranged by Brendan Cooney.

In 2021 Ounsworth, as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, performed exclusive solo shows at Ars Cameralis Festival Katowicz and Ypsigrock Festival Sicily, where he also participated in the artist residency "The Sound of This Place", featuring electronic musicians Eva Geist and Camilla Sparksss, as well as visual artist and architect Gustav Düsing and light designer Julien Dufour.

Furthermore, Ounsworth contributed backing vocals to The Walkmen's 'Lisbon' and participated in Los Dreamers, a project based on immigration stories of producers Raul Pacheco (Ozomatli) and Shawn King (musician) (Devotchka).