DVDfever.co.uk - Bishop Allen: Grrr... CD reviewDVDfever.co.uk - Charts, News and Reviews of Blu-rays, DVDs, Games, CDs, Hardware, Laserdiscs, Cinema Films & more
New York seems to be bristling with talent these days, what with Lady Gaga and MGTM all doing rather well.
Here comes another – indie pop- rockers Bishop Allen – fronted by Justin Rice and Christian Rudder, supported by a host of musical collaborators.
These Harvard graduates haven’t exactly caught on like musical stablemates Arcade Fire, and it’s hard to see Grrr brining them much UK attention as half-decent it is, though there isn’t much real Grrr about this album.
Nevertheless, it has an undeniably quaint charm all of its own, and will definitely grow on you.
The ditties are whimsical enough to appeal across age ranges, with songs seamlessly melting into each other and are quite catchy to be truthful. In fact the album gets better as it unfolds showing a wide range of influences from say Jonathan Richmond – Dimmer / The Magpie – to The Kinks – Tiger, Tiger.
Grrr... opens with a flurry of universal popiness, especially the radio-friendly groovy basslines on The Lion And Tea Cup which eventually unleashes some down-and-dirty guitar solos and a whopping chorus, followed by a far more expansive gem South China Tea, while Oklahoma comes more packaged as an out-and-out happy-go-lucky potential single.
True Or False sounds like something like something out of a recent Beirut songbook, especially the brass injections. It’s carried by some wonderful lead vocals by Darbie Nowatka, and stylish percussion by an appropriately named Michael Tapper. Again this would make a great single for BBC Radio 2’s playlist.
Follow-on Shanghaied is a rip-roaring slice of wackiness.
Radio: Hear tracks soon on THE PLUG at
wrexham.com
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Dimmer
2. The Lion And The Tea Cup
3. South China Moon
4. Dirt On Your New Shoes
5. Oklahoma
6. The Ancient Commonsense Of Things
7. True Or False
8. Rooftop Brawl
9. Shanghaied
10. Don’t Hide Away
11. Cue The Elephants
12. The Magpie
13. Tiger, Tiger
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.