It’s easy, it’s breezy, it’s beautiful. It’s not CoverGirl.
There are bands I’d recognize anywhere – Cake, the Decemberists, Andrew Bird – and Bishop Allen tops the list. The hallmark of every Bishop Allen song is the brilliance of its simplicity. This is a band that doesn’t need flash, doesn’t need bells and whistles, doesn’t need gimmicks – all they need is a light and airy melody paired with easy, breezy, beautiful lyrics:
“Take another picture with your click click click click camera”
“The morning belonged to the grapefruit/ripe in the gold Rome sun/I throw out the rind it’s just bitter to me/done, done, done”
“Things are what you make of them, things are what you make of them, baby/and you know what I mean/yeah you know what I mean”
But that’s actually not the main way I recognize a Bishop Allen track. I can always identify their songs because by the end of them I’m wearing a silly, fade-resistant smile.
Bishop Allen’s newest release is called “Start Again.” And what an apt name it is – you’ll play it once. And then you’ll hit that replay button and start again. And again. And again.