Bishop Allen, Grrr…
Two relentlessly nice kids find cause for exuberant celebration in all human emotions
True fact: Justin Rice and Christian Rudder were in a hardcore band together while they were studying at Harvard. Hard to fathom, when you consider that their ongoing Bishop Allen project — these two eager beavers spent 2006 recording a new EP every month — is thematically bound by relentless charm and downright niceness. Ukuleles are nice. Playground melodies are nice. Michael Cera's stamp of approval is certainly nice.
Not that no one behaves badly in a Bishop Allen song. Records are smashed, arms are twisted, shoes get dirty. What they've really taken from hardcore, however, is sheer exuberance. Moody funks, missed connections, total confusion — all human emotion is cause for celebration, with whatever instrumentation is handy, and whoever stops by for a visit.
There's a lot of open space in the 13 tracks on Grrrr…, the band's third full-length album. Electric guitars are plucked, rarely clawed. A marimba gives "The Ancient Commonsense of Things" an irresistible lilt. On "True or False," sung with a sweet hint of Moe Tucker by guest Darbie Nowatka, the fun comes in the form of Salvation Army (OK, Neutral Milk Hotel)-style horns. There may not be any near-perfect snapshots like the last album's "Click, Click, Click, Click" or "Like Castanets," but "Grrr…" has fetching pictures in every frame.
