Standing outside of Other Music in New York’s East Village (in the freezing cold), the line grew waiting for the highly anticipated Bishop Allen instore. On the release day of their third album titled ‘Grrr’ the band and attendees had a glimmer of excitement in their eyes. Waiting to hear the new record, Bishop Allen treated the crowd to a load of new tracks, along with some old classics.

With the room so packed you couldn’t even move, it didn’t stop us from having a stellar time. I noticed something last night in Justin Rice  that I haven’t seen with many other singers (as odd as this may sound). He has a great ability to truly connect with the audience. He looks in their eyes like he is talking directly to each and everyone of them. He’s having a conversation with them. A lot of singers don’t do this I’ve noticed, and quite frankily, this impressed me.

Bishop Allen played some brilliant tracks off of the new record like they’ve been playing them forever. ‘Grrr’is a nice progression from their prior work, but does not by any means lose the integrity and sound that Rice, Rudder and company bring into every piece of music they write. That’s the kind of thing that makes a band timeless, and Bishop Allen is the definition of that.

Check out more pictures of Bishop Allen at Other Music after the jump

*Stay tuned in the next few days for our Bishop Allen Justin Rice interview. Hint: He likes playing the woodblocks…alot*