Sounding almost like a cross between Bright Eyes, Elliot Smith and Beck, Andrew Bird's new album is very clever and very easy to enjoy. However, it isn't anything particularly new or exciting.

He is clearly an intelligent man, and he flaunts it in his lyrics. From the very first line on the opening track, "Turnstiles on mezzanine/Jet ways and Dramamine fiends", he obviously tries to show how intellectual he is - and each song that follows is full of long words, clever analogies and poetic imagery. That is nothing to complain about though, Andrew Bird is thinking man's music if you care to pay attention, but it can still be enjoyed without being understood.

Musically, he is also very clearly talented, but a lot of the songs tend to blend together. The standout track is 'Plasticites' which holds the most catchy chorus and is the most likely to be remembered, but I couldn't name any others which stood out like that without listening to the album again. It's all very nice,… more »

Sounding almost like a cross between Bright Eyes, Elliot Smith and Beck, Andrew Bird's new album is very clever and very easy to enjoy. However, it isn't anything particularly new or exciting.

He is clearly an intelligent man, and he flaunts it in his lyrics. From the very first line on the opening track, "Turnstiles on mezzanine/Jet ways and Dramamine fiends", he obviously tries to show how intellectual he is - and each song that follows is full of long words, clever analogies and poetic imagery. That is nothing to complain about though, Andrew Bird is thinking man's music if you care to pay attention, but it can still be enjoyed without being understood.

Musically, he is also very clearly talented, but a lot of the songs tend to blend together. The standout track is 'Plasticites' which holds the most catchy chorus and is the most likely to be remembered, but I couldn't name any others which stood out like that without listening to the album again. It's all very nice, but not exactly exciting or refreshing.

Armchair Apocrypha is a nice, laid back album full of intelligent songs and nice melodies. It won't change your life or expose you to any new styles of music, but it sounds good, and thats whats important.