Bishop Allen

by James Christopher Monger Brooklyn by way of Boston indie rock quartet Bishop Allen formed in 2003 around core members Justin Rice and Christian Rudder. The group (the two longtime friends are joined by a rotating cast of musicians) takes its name from Bishop Allen Drive in Cambridge, MA, the street where Rice and Rudder used to reside. The band released the largely self-recorded Charm School in 2003, followed by a flurry of EPs (January, February, March, April, and May). In 2006 the band signed to Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar sister label Dead Oceans and released the full-length Broken String.