Princeton - Bloomsbury EP

Los Angeles-area indie popsters Princeton released one of my favorite EPs of 2006, and this summer they'll be back with their Bloomsbury EP. The flavor and songwriting prowess evident on A Case of the Emperor's Clothes are still present, but Bloomsbury sees the band take a step up. Not only did the EP benefit from the efforts of mixer Pete Weiss (Moe Tucker, Aimee Mann, etc.) and the mastering work of Jeff Lipton (Magnetic Fields, Wilco, Spoon, etc.), but it also sees the band expanding its vision and arsenal of instruments.

Bloomsbury is crafted around a unique concept, with each of its four songs focused on a different member of London's famed Bloomsbury intellectual collective of the early twentieth century (specifically Leonard Woolf, Lytton Strachey, Virginia Woolf, and John Maynard Keynes). Serge Gainsbourg, The Kinks, and Jorge Ben are cited as influences as well. Pretty heady stuff for a bunch of youngsters, no? The terrific hooks from their debut remain, but are now backed by strings, woodwinds, and harpsichord as well as more conventional rock sounds. A very nice EP that continues Princeton's impressive output.

01. The Waves
02. Ms. Bentwich
03. Leonard Woolf
04. Eminent Victorians

They have several California dates booked through mid-May. Bloomsbury is due for a summer 2008 release, and A Case of the Emperor's Clothes is still available via their Myspace.