Bishop Allen - Grrr... (Dead Oceans)
4/5
By: Joe MacAllister
Bishop Allen (named after the street they live on in Brooklyn, New York) comprises Justin Rice and Christian Rudder, backed by a rotating cast of musicians and friends. Their second full length album, Grrr... is a breath of fresh air - thirteen tracks, each one bursting with its own succinct energy. Everything about the album has a sparkle from start to finish: the production is tight, the lyrics simultaneously amusing and poetic, and the music swimming in originality.
If there's any criticism of Bishop Allen - and it's not a proper one really - it's that sometimes, they are perhaps too enthusiastic for my tastes. Brushing my grouchy cynicism aside though, and deploying a rather crude confectionary metaphor, if you'll allow me, I will try to describe the effect of Grrr... on a musical palette: Imagine that if listening to Alphabeat was akin to cramming a mouthful of 10p sour strawberry strips (something which WILL make you feel sick), then Bishop Allen are like nibbling from a box of Thornton's finest Continental chocolates (it may make you sick after a while, but at least it tastes good; refined and cultured).
'Dimmer' is an instant favourite, blending nursery rhyme melodies with a pizzicato violin breakdown. This is pop music that has been lovingly nurtured, and the sometimes bizarre collection of instruments (strings, marimbas and ukuleles amongst them) never sounds out of place, or merely added for novelty value. Every detail has been rigorously picked over to enhance the songs to the point where they are virtually miniature symphonies. Lyrically, the band's intellectual if slightly oddball styling draws comparisons to great artists like The Kinks, Jonathon Richman, even Lou Reed and Paul Simon. In terms of literate lyrics that bear listening to over and over Bishop Allen are light-years ahead of most of what's in the Top 20 right now.
'Dirt On Your New Shoes' contains the brilliant line, "Skeletons upon the stairway, showing off the teeth inside their heads. Is it you or are they laughing, at what you said?" The lyrical imagery might often verge on the surreal but that never bothered Dylan when he wrote Highway 61 Revisited or Blonde on Blonde. The sheer abundance of imagery on offer in the album's lyrics might be too much for some to take in, but thankfully the tunes are good enough to let them wash over you the first time, and concentrate on the lyrics the second, third, fourth time. You will listen to this album a lot.
The songs never exceed the 3 minute mark, but each one is like an individual music box: full of quaint prettiness and meandering melodies. For instance, on first listen, 'South China Moon' seems to be a bizarre but eloquent rant against the moon, but it builds from a quiet, marimba-led ditty into a chugging, All-American rock anthem that Springsteen himself would be proud of: "Put a thought in my head, make me worry instead. Put a hole in my bed, out of spite,"
Like excitable musical jack-rabbits, the band bound with giddy gusto between styles. Whether it's the optimistic 'Oklahoma', which begs you to "Head out west, stake that claim, and forget everybody else's name," or the cutesy call and response of 'True or False', let alone the spidery guitars and poetic pomp of 'Cue The Elephants'... the point sticks. 'Don't Hide Away' urges you to come out of your shell and enjoy life with typically good humour, "Well you know I'm gonna write you a letter, everyday like you were a debtor, so you might as well pick up the phone and give me a call." This is undeniably an album occupied with the sunshine, and deserves to be a big hit this summer. I only hope that it won't get horribly overplayed like Vampire Weekend did last year. Bishop Allen are a band to be cherished.
Artists in this article: Bishop Allen
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