Bishop Allen Return—Finally—With A New Album In Tow

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 3, 2014 4:30PM

Bishop Allen, photo by Matt Petricone

Most folks probably know Bishop Allen from their cameo in Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, and that's totally fine with us. But there's a smaller group of fans who have followed the band's extremely sporadic output ravenously since their 2003 debut. (Guess which camp this writer falls within?)

In the decade plus since the band's debut they've only released three other albums, the most recent of which, Lights Out, hit the shelves last month. While fans have had to wait as long as five years between releases, the wait has always been worth it since the band's songcraft is so tightly executed there is nary a misstep to trip up the pleasure of listening to their albums.

Lights Out continues their streak of not letting us down, despite a five year wait since their last album, Grrr... The band's primary songwriters—Justin Rice and Christian Rudder—combine their efforts to create breezy guitar pop that leaps out of the speakers and brightens up a room. Songs like "Start Again" and the album's masterpiece, the shoulda-been-summer-anthem "Good Talk," demonstrate the band's greatest strengths as they mix the sugary pleasures unleashed through the internal chemistry of emotional turmoil. As a whole, Lights Out functions as a collection of bittersweet summer jams that contrast the temporal nature of the world around you with cognizance of the beauty that accepting that universal truth unleashes and undeniable positivity.

It's been a while since Bishop Allen was last in Chicago so we're pleased that this excellent new album has given them an excuse to return when they take the stage tomorrow night for an intimate show at Schubas. We know that in our city the seasons have seemed rather confusing over the last few weeks, but tomorrow night, between four dark walls of a music club, it's going to be the perfect summer.

Bishop Allen plays Thursday, Sept. 4, at Schubas, 3159 N Southport, 9 p.m., $12 advance / $15 at the door, 21+