Guest Post: Review of Bishop Allen
You should make plans to see Bishop Allen play at the Middle East. Not because Bishop Allen will be on the Best of Pitchfork, the AV Club’s top music of the year, the New York Times, the Village Voice, or any other trusted source for new and talked about independent music.
You should see Bishop Allen because you’ll enjoy the show. By enjoy, I mean, you’ll have a smile on your face and so will your friends that have never heard the band. If a typical indie rock show is to be compared to a night at the cool, 40-beers-from-all-around-the-world, up-and-coming-part-of-the-city-bar, a Bishop Allen show would more closely resemble drinking domestic beers on a summer day at the beach. It’s like returning to your friends and family after an extended bout of traveling. Good, clean, un-pretentious fun lyrics. Not quite a sing-along, thank god, but you hear enough to know that the song isn’t about killing people.
Post by Tim “Sammy Adams” Baker
Their myspace site: http://www.myspace.com/bishopallen
Official Website: www.bishopallen.com
Next Boston Show: May 15th @ Middle East Downstairs ($12)
Kips Notes on “Click Click Click Click”: The simplicity of both the song and the video create a lasting effect on the listener, quite similar to that of a good photo taken. I find the video to be ingenious. You take a simple concept like that of the animated flip book and give it a tiny twist.
MP3: “Rain”
MP3: “Click Click Click Click”
Video for “Click Click Click Click”
Sub Pop invades Brookline St. & Mass Ave.
We’ve got some great shows coming up in the Boston area. Besides the obvious greats, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks @ Paradise Rock Club on April 3rd and Hot Chip @ Paradise Rock Club on April 14th, there are also some smaller lesser known shows taking place next week.
Next Tuesday, March 25th, @ T.T. the Bear’s Place:
The bands: The Ruby Suns play along with Le Loup
Cost: $9 (TicketWeb)
Times: Ruby Suns @10:15 and Le Loup @ 11:15
The Ruby Suns are Sub Pop’s most recent success story. Their self-titled album has been on rotate for the past couple weeks and their latest release, Sea Lion, has been getting great reviews. The group is from New Zealand and fit extremely well into the Sub Pop sound along side groups such as The Shins.
MP3: “Tane Mahuta”
Buy Sea Lion: (Amazon) (Subpop)
Le Loup is headlining this show. They originate from the D.C. area and have been on a tear the last year. They’ve toured over seas and have been all over this fine land and the craziest part is they’ve only been together for about a year. I first caught them by accident a few months back opening up for some band that obviously didn’t catch my attention as much as this seven piece outfit. They’re on the Hardly Art label which is a subsidiary of Sub Pop. Le Loup bring the force with four guitarist a drummer and plethora of toys such as a French horn, tambourine, banjos, keys and I’m sure there are some more they’ve got in the chest.
MP3: “We are Gods. We are Wolves”
Buy The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millenium General Assembly (phew): (Amazon) (iTunes)
Next Thursday, March 27th @ Middle East Upstairs:
The bands: Fleet Foxes open up for Blitzen Trapper
Cost: $9 advance / $10 at door (Tickemaster)
Times: The usual
Ah, yet another smooth crooning southern rock sound ala My Morning Jacket. “Oh man, Fleet Foxes are their own sound.” Yes, I agree, but like all great musicians, everyone plays off each other. Therefore my comment should be looked at as a complement and not an insult. Fleet Foxes have a big sound and there is no question they fall in to the same category as My Morning Jacket or Band of Horses. Yet their bouncy rhythm section gives them a unique sound and their own spin on this genre.
MP3: “Oliver James” (Download MP3 at Brooklyn Vegan)
Buy Fleet Foxes: (Amazon) (Sub Pop)
Blitzen Trapper “blitzed” onto the scene late last year with their catchy song “Wild Mountain Nation” which made it clearly into my top tracks of 2007. Their latest album, Wild Mountain Nation, took home some praise from critics all over the music world. It’s got a hectic pace and at times the arrangements are a bit messy but I think that’s on purpose. They have a dirty sound but some how manage to pass it off as clean fun. I remember reading one review that liked them to Pavement but I honestly don’t see that at all. Maybe in their wild arrangements but their sound is more raw Americana then the lo-fi indie rock that Pavement was kicking out.
MP3: “Wild Mountain Nation” (download MP3 from A Free Man)
Buy Wild Mountain Nation: (Amazon) (Sub Pop)
