Album of the week

Band of Horses
Cease to Begin (Sub Pop)










After issuing one of the best albums of 2007, Band of Horses throw their hat into the ring once again this year with Cease to Begin. The prevailing sentiment on this album is that while 2006's Everything All the Time is a Northwest album, Cease to Begin is of the Southeast variety. I was expecting the discrepancy to be wider as a whole. The obvious moniker to the South is "The General Specific," a mediocre but somewhat catchy song. I always thought any comparisons to My Morning Jacket to be inaccurate, but the wistful tune, "Detlef Schrempf"(who was a basketball player for the Seattle Super Sonics by the way) basically asks to carry a MMJ tag...although it is a nice enough listen. Other than this however, the main difference in Cease seems to be a more simplistic, stylistic approach, which results in a tamer yet more moody album.

The first track, "Is There a Ghost" has been struttin its awesome self all over the world wide web for the past month, letting us know that Everything wasn't a fluke. It highlights Bridwell's knack for effortlessly engaging you while carrying an intense melodic punch, ala "The Great Salt Lake." The rival for best track is probably "Islands on the Coast," which is heavier in substance but might not leave as big an impression. The album starts off very strong, especially the first 3 tracks...then it whithers a bit before picking it up with "Islands" and the solid "Cigarettes, Wedding Bands." In this sense it isn't as consistent and solid as Everything. At the same time, Band of Horses are in the same spot that Interpol and The Arcade Fire made for themselves after coming out with such an amazing debut. Cease To Begin is definitely one of the most enjoyable records of the year and is a more than worthy sophomore effort from the South Carolinia transplants.



hear: Is There a Ghost, Ode to LRC, No One's Gonna Love You, Islands on the Coast, CIgarettes Wedding Bands

www.bandofhorses.com
www.subpop.com