2007, Dead Oceans

VINYL FORMAT. In 2006, the band self-released an EP every month of the year. Fifty-eight songs later, Bishop Allen's pop smarts sound timeless, escaping the indie-pop idiom and revealing a language informed by The Kinks, Dylan, and The Zombies. On this, their sophomore album, the band made a quantum leap. Of its twelve songs, ten are reworded tracks from the EPs and two are previously unreleased. These are not just re-recordings. The songs' arrangements have grown, the production is lush, the lyrics are front and center, and the band's evolution has reached a new level. The Broken String is poised to be the pop soundtrack of the summer.