Bishop Allen - The Broken String Album Review

Rating: 4 out of 5

Bishop Allen
The Broken String
Album Review

The Broken String is the first proper studio album from Brooklyn band Bishop Allen, which is essentially two friends and a bunch of musical collaborators. The 'friends' bit is important, as Bishop Allen make a kind of music that sounds like everyone involved is having a whole lot of fun. The music is hard to pigeonhole - at turns, a little bit folk, a little bit rock and a lot of indie spirit - but every song is just that, an individual song with hooky melody, proper lyrics, proper beginning, middle and ends.

References to other bands wouldn't make sense - maybe there's a touch of James, maybe a piece of Beautiful South, a smidgen of Spoon, a chunk of Bright Eyes - unless to suggest that this isn't a band that relies on arch coolness. Just genuinely excellent and compelling songs, infectious fun and catchy choruses, played through instruments as diverse as clarinets, flutes, strings and guitars. A genuinely lovely find - The Broken String sounds like a Greatest Hits album from some band you'll wish you'd found sooner. Album of the Week.

4/5

Mike Rea