Jul 31 2007
Bishop Allen: The Broken String
OTO Rating: 9/10
Bishop Allen is so cute it’s sick. Their music leaves you with that warm fuzzy feeling all over. Everything about them, from their on stage presence to their peppy lyrics just makes you want to reach out and hug someone. Having seen them open for one of my favorite bands, the Starlight Mints, I immediately fell in love with the New York based indie/pop band. Their songs are cheerful, insightful and the heartwarming lyrics they bellow out act as an intriguing storyteller for the listeners delight. Another reason I think they’re so adorable is they seem so down to earth. Earlier in the year I ordered a CD off their website and the lead man Christian Rudder wrote back personally to give me status updates. How often does that happen these days, I ask you?
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Track listing:
01 Monitor, The 02 Rain 03 Click, Click, Click, Click 04 Chinatown Bus, The 05 Flight 180 06 Like Castanets 07 Butterfly Nets 08 Shrinking Violet 09 Corazon 10 Middle Management 11 Choose Again 12 News From Your Bed, The |
Bishop Allen released Charm School in 2003. This was their first full length album and it generated lots of press and new fans along with the promise of a very hopeful music-making future. Next came what is known as “the EP project.” Every month in 2006, Bishop Allen released a 4-song record with the corresponding month as the title. The band claims they all go together and are meant to be listened to as a series. Each and every charming mini album also features charming artwork for the listener’s enjoyment. Their latest release, The Broken String, ups the ante considerably, reworking ten songs from the EP cycle and two new cuts into shiny indie pop release notable for its versatility, clever-catching lyrics, and fun, offbeat instrumentation.
The album opens with “Monitor” in which songwriter Justin Rice contrasts the Civil War ironclad and sailors’ courage with playing on-stage. Lyrics “when I break another string, and continue to sing, is that courage? I’m not sure”. It’s a bit of a reckless comparison, but the song’s slow-burn build into cascading piano runs, symphonic percussion, and joyous choruses makes it more serious than ostentatious. That song bleeds into the metronomic guitar riffs and driving pop beat of “Rain,” setting the table for the diversity that follows on much of the album. The following track on the album is “Click, Click, Click, Click” which was an original release on their most popular EP release “July”. The song is so catchy that I’m surprised I haven’t heard it on a Kodak commercial with some toothless 7 year old boy riding a merry-go-round or sucking on a cherry Popsicle with an unearthly uber-sized grin.
In short, The Broken String is extremely enjoyable from start to finish. Many of the tracks seem to blend together in a menagerie of seamless bliss, making it difficult to differentiate what track you’re listening to exactly – and isn’t that something that should be commended? It’s the perfect album to play at a dinner party, an afternoon gathering of friends, or while lying in the arms of someone you love. Regardless if you’re a die hard Bishop Allen fan or have no clue of their tale whatsoever I believe just about anyone will find their latest release gratifying to the ears.
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