Bishop Allen w/The Teeth @ Lee's Palace

The Teeth are a powerhouse of a rock band from Philadelphia who I found extremely impressive. I arrived at Lee's partway through their set, but from what I saw, they were full of punk rock enthusiasm as they oozed rock star machismo. They had the melodic wit of The Kinks melded with the hyperactive swagger of The Clash. Listening to their music on myspace, it sounds like they're also heavily influenced by 70's Bowie-esque glam rock. I would really like to get better acquainted with this band because they're the type of band that I think I could really get into. Ultimately, their live show has the feel of a punk rock band who had been transported to 1955, picked up on the exciting vibe of rock 'n roll when it was still fresh and new and then beamed it forward to our day and age. Very cool.


Bishop Allen are an incredibly cool indie band from Brooklyn, who's "Charm School" release a couple of years ago, had a real Costello-like, well, charm to it. Although I really enjoyed it at the time, I have to admit that with the massive influx of music that I'm regularly introduced to, I kind of forgot about them. However, I was forced to reintroduce myself to them when my friend asked me if I wanted to check out their show. Impressively, last year they released a separate EP for every month of the year, that's 12 EP's in all, and from what I've sampled, they're songwriting abilities are pretty solid and consistent. The show last night was brief, but it showcased their upcoming release "Broken String" quite extensively. Lead vocalist (and sometime actor) Justin Rice was very charismatic, clearly enjoying himself on stage while other vocalist Christian Rudder (also a sometime actor) showed off what an amazing musical talent he was, making a single stringed ukelele sound invariably cool. However, the superstar of the evening for me was the drummer. I don't know his name because there is no official drummer in Bishop Allen, but he was a maniac, at times drumming with one hand in order to handle xylophone duties with the other. I am pumped to hear "Broken String" in its entirety when it's officially released on July 24th.

Downloads:
The Teeth - So Long mp3
Bishop Allen - Click Click Click Click mp3
Bishop Allen - Butterfly Nets mp3

The Teeth on myspace.
Purchase the CD "You're My Lover Now" at their online store.
View my pics of The Teeth over on flickr.

Bishop Allen on myspace.
Purchase their music on their online store. Or purchase digital versions here.
View my pics of Bishop Allen on flickr.