BY JAMIE DAVIS Bishop Allen [pictured, above] are basically a fun little Brooklyn indie pop band: Fairly nonsensical lyrics, a xylophone player, skinny jeans and guitars worn 1964 George Harrison style. On disc, the songs sound pretty much as you’d expect, catchy, low-key, nothing really fantastic but pleasant enough to hold the moment, if not much after that. However, the songs do seem to improve in a live setting, as was the case last night at Johnny Brendas. The performers were energetic, and the choruses tended to take off a little more with the extra volume. The band obviously enjoyed itself onstage too, joking around with each other and the audience, breaking strings, talking about panties etc. The largely hipster crowd stood around, drank, and occasionally bobbed their amazingly sculpted hair — although the room wasn’t exactly packed. The song “Click Click Click Click” drew the biggest response of the night, with some of the audience members almost even humming along. Even though nobody seemed in imminent danger of getting their dance on, there was a readily apparent energy in the room. Openers Throw Me The Statue sounded a bit like an indie Duran-Duran, but with the singer doing a Bruce Springsteen impression, if you can imagine that. They used backing tracks of pre-recorded beats to thicken their sound, along with often looping their guitar. Again, the songs were really just good fun pop music, with catchy choruses and bouncy synth lines. The end result was definitely a bit ’80s, but still enjoyable enough. The night was really an indie-kids playground. Show up, watch two hip underground bands, leave, and then talk for the rest of the week about how great it was, regardless of whether they actually paid attention or not. So really, if you’re not a fan of either of these bands, and you’re not worried about being indie-er than your buds, there’s really not much reason to show up. But if you do, you won’t be bored exactly, just kind of comfortable. It’s like an old blanket, it’s probably pretty warm and fuzzy, but you’re not gonna exactly be having a wild time.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jamie Davis is a senior at Kimberton Waldorf High School. He enjoys Blink-182 more than any Thom Yorke fan should.