Bishop Allen

After spending 2006 releasing an EP a month, Bishop Allen seems to be devoting 2007 to becoming well-versed in NPR-certified indie rock: "The Monitor" burns with Arcade Fire's epic indie pop; the unison tandem vocals plus the folksy vibe and fun with geography on "The Chinatown Bus" points to Sufjan Stevens; and "Click, Click, Click, Click" is winsome, it's sensitive, it's got glockenspiel, it's...the Shins. Sure, you've heard it all before, but these quotations are not only literate, they're eloquent. And it's not all canonical: have you ever heard a sax/ukulele duet on "Weekend Edition?"