March 2, 2009

Album Review: The Bishops

For Now

6 / 10 Facts about this album:
The Bishops are twins Mike Bishop (vocals, guitar) and Pete Bishop (vocals, bass) and Chris McConville (drums).
The band formed in 2002.
'For Now' is The Bishops' second album, following their self-titled debut.

Album review:
This patchy album shows these sharp-suited Londoners on safe indie territory, but caught in several minds. Do they want to make Franzy indie floorfillers? ‘Hold On’, with its Cars-y propulsion, would suggest they do. But wait, how about jaunty Boo Radleys quirk-pop? ‘Pass Away’ is pretty, ‘For Now’ could be a smash. Hang on, now we’re trying on The Housemartins, are we? No bad thing, as ‘If You Leave Today’ shows. But chaps, country ballads? ‘He Was A Friend Of Mine’ lacks soul. And you haven’t just blundered into an update of Spinal Tap’s ‘All the Way Home’ have you? ‘Train Won’t Stop’ is a snigger-fest. A shame these 14 tracks have exposed their limitations: a streamlined indie-pop LP playing to The Bishops’ strengths would have done nicely.

Martin Robinson