Bishop Allen - Grrr… (2009)

Bishop Allen's third album, Grrr..., comes after a couple years of increased visibility for the band, who appeared in Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist and had a song from the last album (2007's Broken String) featured in an ad campaign for Sony. The success hasn't gone to their heads, though, and there are no gospel choirs, guest appearances from members of TV on the Radio, or electro-pop dance beats here. If anything, Grrr... is more stripped-down than Broken String sonically, as they take a step away from orchestration and move back to a taut and focused approach that's more in line with the sound of their first album, Charm School. The main duo of Justin Rice and Christian Rudder (along with friends including Darbie Nowatka on vocals and Michael Tapper on drums) put their faith in their songcraft and vocal performances, never letting anything distract from the tricky wordplay and plaintive singing. Most of the songs are built around the standard rock foundation of guitar (electric sometimes, acoustic more often), bass, and drums with minimal keyboards, strings, and horns added occasionally. The approach is commendably basic and when it works, like on the jumpy, very Feelies "Oklahoma" and "Cue the Elephants" or "True or False" (which has Nowatka providing the sweet lead vocals), the record is a lot of fun. The problem is that the similar sound, tempo, and structure of the songs make them all run together somewhat, and if you don't pay close attention to what's going on, you may find yourself at the end of the album with no recollection of what you just listened to. (It may say something that the most memorable track on the record, "Dimmer," is the one that sounds the most like it could have been on Broken String.) Repeated listens help to sort things out, though, and the subtle shadings of Grrr... do become more apparent the more you listen -- in fact, the album is a perfect example of the old rock crit cliché "The Grower."