Time for the monthly update. Bishop Allen, undoubtably some of America’s best songwriters, set out to release an EP every month for all of 2006. Yup, that’s 48 songs–about four albums’ worth of material. The crazy part is, these aren’t bad rehashes of previous works or boring in the least. The songs on the EPs have been some of Bishop Allen’s most wildly innovative work to date. Speaking of which, “July” could very well be the best EP yet–featuring no less than three of my favorite Bishop Allen songs.

MP3: Bishop Allen – Click Click Click Click
“Click…” is a song about stepping out of the rain and right into a wedding shot. Not ruining it, understand, but winding up looking like an extra guest. Overtop of some fingerpicked guitar, lead singer Justin Rice explains how “he didn’t know the groom or the bride,” but wound up standing next to her laughing brother. And that’s the predominating sense of “Click,” noticing both the feeling of being out of place, and how that affects the rest of someone’s life.

The key to the song, however, is in the chorus. The first time through, when it’s just vocals and guitar, the line “take another picture with your click click click click camera” seems apologetic. Justin has just ruined a wedding shot, and he’s trying to retroactively right his wrong. But then, after a little musing and realized that they never even asked his name, the song builds and builds and by the time its over, his voice has become more sure. He ends with those same pleas to take the photo again, but this time it doesn’t seem because he’s sorry he was in it. He probably just wants to fix his hair for the next one.

Bishop Allen on Myspace
Buy “July” or any other EP for $5

BONUS MP3: Bishop Allen – Little Black Ache (from Charm School)
BONUS MP3: Bishop Allen – Corazon (from “January”)
BONUS MP3: Bishop Allen – Vain (from “February”)
BONUS MP3: Bishop Allen – The Monitor (from “March”)
BONUS MP3: Bishop Allen – Flight 180 (from “April”)
BONUS MP3: Bishop Allen – Butterfly Nets (from “May”)
BONUS MP3: Bishop Allen – The Same Fire (from “June”)