We've Got A Lot to Be Glad For: Rock Plaza Central and Bishop Allen

Last Friday night I took my little lonesome down to the South Street Seaport to catch a couple bands that I am totally excited about: Rock Plaza Central and Bishop Allen.

My discovery of Rock Plaza was a bit inadvertent: I had read about them on Pitchfork (I think their recent album was included in Pitchfork's 50 Best of 2006 list, but I'm too lazy to check right now) and had thought " huh. they sound like a band that I would like to see". I even bookmarked their website to remind myself! Aaaannd....there they lingered for months: I totally forgot about them. But I was incredibly delighted to find out that this cool-sounding-band-that-I-totally-forgot-about was an opener one night I was at the Merc. And they were awesome that night. I'm sure they get this a lot, but there is a Neutral Milk Hotel association that comes to mind when I hear these guys, which might give you an idea of the level of energy these guys put in to a show and get in return from the crowd. They, at any rate, write songs about mechanical horses that were built by humans to battle Angels for dominance of the earth and who, after a time, begin to question the side that they are on.

I saw them once again at the Merc after that first show and was once again really impressed by their energy and force. The Seaport show, however, didn't really meet the levels of those two prior shows. I think that the setting, rather than the band, was at fault for this particular performance: the Seaport setting (especially in the early slot before the sun set) wasn't really the ideal setting for mechanical horse existential wanderings. So, while I think the music suffered for it, the enthusiasm of the band never waned throughout the performance. I will totally check them out next time they are back in town.

Bishop Allen is a band that I was introduced to a couple years back by a friend and I have always thought that they were fun. Witty songs that are also musically interesting seem to be their calling card. Last Friday, however, it dawned on me that BA might be making the move from an band I smile with to a band that I can full-on rock to. It was really exciting, and I can't wait to see them again next month at the Bowery. I"ll save more in-depth ruminations for a later post at that time.