we saw: Bishop Allen

"I met a kid in Brooklyn and he pointed at the sky / he had liquor on his breath and he had fire in his eye"
From the first day I listened to Bishop Allen I decided I HAD to see them live. Problem was I was living in Charleston, SC and was very very poor. Another problem was that Bishop Allen tours are infrequent at best. So when they announced in January they'd be playing the Music Hall of Williamsburg, I saved the date and hit up Ticketbastard at 10:00am (you would have thought I was trying to get tickets to Phish or The Boss). The show did eventually sell out, although not until the last minute.

With my expectations teetering on psychopathic I decided to settle my nerves with booze. Luckily, Bishop Allen took the stage before my "settling" got out of hand. After the first guitar notes I had relaxed. I was there. Finally seeing Bishop Allen. My only complaint was they didn't play long enough.

Empire City
The Monitor
Like Castanets
The Light of the Lost
Quarter to Three
Middle Management
Rain
Choose Again
The News from Your Bed
Click Click Click Click
Busted Heart
Flight 180
The Same Fire

ENCORE:
Butterfly Nets
Friday Out of My Mind [new song; tentative title]
Things Are What You Make of Them

To listen to a simulated setlist from the show click HERE

To listen to a Muxtape made up of the best of the EP Project click HERE
("Central Booking" goes out to JRGiles)

Coming soon: Bishop Allen

"And when I break another string, and continue to sing, is that courage, I'm not sure"

In 2006, Brooklyn indie-poppers Bishop Allen released a 4 song EP every month, aptly naming them after each month. With the exception of August's live EP, they released 11 months of new material (44 songs). Bishop Allen's new release, The Broken String, their first full length album since 2003's aclaimed debut, Charm School, hits record shops on July 24th. If you're wondering how a band who released 44 new songs last year could possibly still have material left, the answer is they don't. Three quarters of the songs on The Broken String appeared on EP's last year. The album has 3 new tracks including the single Rain, available for free download on their website. For die-hard fans, only two songs on The Broken String (Middle Management, Choose Again) will be unfamiliar.

With all that aside, The Broken String is fantastic. As promised, the 9 tracks from the EP's are all re-recorded and sound better (most of the time) than the originals. For those who loved Charm School, The Broken String delivers more mature, complex pop songs than their debut. The first three tracks contain a driving epicness of feel-good twee they only hinted at on Charm School. The percussion is more elaborate and the tracks have genrally gotten longer. Four years after their dazzlng debut, Bishop Allen has matured and, believe it or not, improved. Check them out later this month on their US tour.

Bishop Allen - Rain
Bishop Allen - Like Castanets