ONE RING ZERO THURS., APRIL 29 PARK SLOPE'S Paris-in-Brooklyn cafe Barbès celebrates ...

O THURS., APRIL 29

PARK SLOPE'S Paris-in-Brooklyn cafe Barbès celebrates its second anniversary this week with a nine-day lineup of interesting talent on its backroom stage. Kicking things off is the eclectic One Ring Zero, the kind of no-genre band that could only have been formed by guys who own too many records.

With Greg Stare on drums/percussion, Taylor Bergren-Chrisman on double bass, Joshua Camp behind the accordion and piano and Michael Hearst switching between claviola, theremin and acoustic guitar, the instrumentation alone makes you wonder what the hell they're up to. I ring up Hearst and ask the obvious.

"Oh, god, I hate this," Hearst admits, scrambling for a precise description. "You know I should have come up with an answer for this like five years ago and just stuck with something."

After a few moments trying out different combos, we settle on an esthetic along the lines of Eastern European klezmer, circus, Fellini soundtrack, cartoon music—you know, something in the gypsy kitchen sink and quirky lyrics vein.

Not so odd when you consider the band's auspicious founding. Poetically enough, Hearst and Camp established their musical friendship while tuning harmonicas and accordions at the Hohner musical instrument warehouse in Virginia. These days, they're regulars at the Knitting Factory, Galapagos, Barbès and Tonic, have been featured on NPR and have shared billings with Cibo Matto, the Magnetic Fields, the Roots, Thurston Moore and Medeski Martin and Wood.

Hearst, ever modest, admits, "Everything we've done in our whole career has been kind of unintentional." When he and Camp brought their show up from their native Virginia, they stumbled upon the bookstore owned by Dave Eggers and ended up as the house band during readings. It wasn't a far stumble to the soon-to-be released book/album As Smart as We Are (street date May 18), which features lyrics penned by a list of authors that reads like a feature table at Barnes & Noble—Jonathan Ames, Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster, A.M. Homes, Jonathan Lethem and Darin Strauss, to name a few.

The bulk of tonight's Barbès appearance will feature tracks off the new disc. My favorite so far is Auster's lyrical nod to my home state: "There ain't no sin in Cincinnati/since I been in Cincinnati/I gotta' get out of Cincinnati or else…"

The McSweeney's crew will start the night off with a reading to get everyone in the literary mood. Guest authors will be Andre Aciman and Lara Vapnyar. The performance space, a separate room at the back of the bar, is intimate (really tiny), so plan to arrive early if you're serious about actually seeing the band.

Barbès, 376 9th St. (6th Ave.), Park Slope, 718-965-9177, 9 (reading @ 7:30), $5.