Band Of Horses: Cease To Begin (2008)-James Pitts
Band Of Horses: Cease To Begin (2008)
By James Pitts
Sometimes, Band Of Horses feels like two different groups. You have the turn of the millennium northwest indie rock band, and then you have the Gram Parsons-esque country numbers, complete with reverb drenched slide guitar and harmonized lead vocals. Personally, I prefer the later, and that may be my main complaint with Cease To Begin. Their debut, Everything All The Time, had way more of this country influence, and it balanced so well with their anthemic rockers. Cease To Begin takes a more conventional approach, trying to balance rock with very mild tempo numbers, draining the energy of the album, and making every sparkling rocker, like "Islands on the Coast" and "Cigarettes and Wedding Bands" seem more a return to form than a continuation of the album.
The opening track, "Is There A Ghost" seems like the band’s credo with an ambient intro that builds and explodes into a guitar driven, octave chord explosion. Even the lyrical ambiguity is spot on BOH: "I could sleep/I could sleep/When I lived alone/Is there a ghost in my house" Following is "Ode to LRC", a track that continues the energy of the opener, only to run out of steam halfway through the track. Momentum thwarted. Cease To Begin does shine with "The General Specific" a foot stompin’, hand clappin’ indie take on the classic Stones country-blues sound. From there we loose momentum again with a lo-fi instrumental "Lamb on the Lam (In the City)" and continue with the ups and downs, until the album’s finisher "Window Blues" shows us the potential alt-country BOH perfectly melding picked electric guitar chords with subtle acoustic guitar, slide guitar, banjo, and organ. A slightly frustrating listen, Cease To Begin is an album you may find yourself quietly gravitating towards while driving around at night, a companion that won’t occupy more of your time than your thoughts.
Copyright C. 2008 James Pitts