Lagging powerpop

The Bishop’s Daredevil Stunt Club’s new album Please Stand By is the follow-up to their 2019 LP, End Over End. The band, which hails from Chicago, describes itself as powerpop. The group opts for a limited catalog of instruments, usually using a simple electric guitar and drum kit in their songs. Unfortunately, this non-inclusive instrumentation makes their 12-track, 52-minute record very monotonous and unexciting.

The first track, “Pony Up,” starts with staccato synths that are swallowed by an electric guitar that never seems to leave. Oddly enough, the track feels slow, like it should be going 10bpm faster. The instrumentation and vocals are reminiscent of a rock sound, however, it has the pacing and structure of pop, which leads to an unsettling first track.

The first three tracks do not offer up much beyond simple guitar riffs and non-diverse instrumentation. Sonically speaking, the first three songs are very similar in terms of style and performance, and along with this, the vocals do not add anything better to the album.

“The Lift” does have a nice driving beat and melody. However, the same things on the rest of the album hold the song back from becoming anything noteworthy. The lyricism is inconsequential, and the performance from the band feels tired.

The track, “Bah Bah Bah (Sing Along Song)” is a bloated seven-and-a-half-minute piece that goes on forever while the singer wails “I never want this song to end.” Throughout the record, the band has tried to do as much vocal layering as possible, and it is a move that is exhausted by the end of the album.

The last track on the album, “Meant to Be Twisted,” is only different in the special vocal effects that make the singer sound like he is singing through a vintage radio. Which is a move that would only make The Strokes in 2001 jealous.

It is difficult to pinpoint any motive behind Please Stand By other than it was made because of the simple fact that it could be made. Making a pop album in 2022 with an electric guitar and with drums is a truly impossible task, and it is one that The Bishop’s Daredevil Stunt Club was not able to successfully.