The Broken String
by Bishop Allen

Album details

US: 24 July 2007 on Dead Oceans
UK: 23 July 2007 on Dead Oceans

The Brooklyn (originally Boston) four-piece first came to the attention of many music fans in 2006, when the band recorded and released one EP each month–for a total of 58 songs on the year. (They also released a full album, "Charm School," in 2003.) Their first album for new label Dead Oceans includes reworked versions of nine of those EP tracks, supplemented with a few new songs.

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The critical consensus

PopMatters offers an exuberant review, proposing that "the strength of Bishop Allen’s songwriting lies in the band’s ability to imbue their songs with universal appeal." All Music Guide enjoys the "clever" and "offbeat" songs, comparing Bishop Allen to a number of prominent indie artists: "The songs suggest a host of touchstones, from the orchestral drama of a scaled-back Arcade Fire and can’t-miss hooks of the Shins to Stephin Merritt-like wordplay and narrative flights à la the Decemberists." Treble prefers Kinks comparisons, while Pitchfork hears some Paul Simon. Lost At Sea also has a lot of praise for the new disc, although not necessarily for the new (non-EP) tracks on it. The Onion calls Broken String a "greatest hits sampler of sorts" that "really is great, striding confidently from one high point to the next." And the Hartford Courant asks, "Is this band the best-kept secret in indie-rock?"

Not every critic is a fan, however–which is to be expected when a well-liked cult band starts reworking their own material. Dusted’s Casey Rae-Hunter is disappointed to find himself indifferent to the album, throwing out a laundry list of adjectives: "Cute. Brainy. Competent. Unremarkable." And Tiny Mix Tapes is unhappy with the reworkings of the EP songs, noting they lack charm compared to the original versions. Pitchfork agrees, saying "Bishop Allen’s studio revisionism … falls short of offering anything substantially new to much of the EP material." Not the Washington Post, who finds the updates "more substantial" than the first takes. For the Post, the album as a whole may be derivative at times, but its "charms outweigh its shortcomings."

While managing to side-step both preciousness and predictability, The Broken String pulls together the long-anticipated and full-fledged follow-up that fans deserve, at the same time aptly defining where Bishop Allen is now: all over the map.

- Kevin Dolak, Prefix

Review roundup

Tracklisting and media

1. The Monitor
2. Rain
   
3. Click, Click, Click, Click
   
4. The Chinatown Bus
5. Flight 180
6. Like Castanets
7. Butterfly Nets
8. Shrinking Violet
9. Corazon
10. Middle Management
11. Choose Again
12. The News From Your Bed

Also on the web

• Official Artist Site
• BA @ MySpace
• BA @ Dead Oceans