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Rating: BAND OF HORSES AT A GENTLE TROT.
Repeating at the highest levels has never been easy for seasoned stallions used to gallop for years in racetracks. Imagine for a debut group in the charts, especially in times of very lean (skeletal, I'd say) conditions, having to follow up to a small pop/rock/folk classic like Everything All The Time in 2006.
Belonging to the glorious Seattle temple and its "Motown" (the invincible Sub Pop stable, a label on which we nostalgic and apathetic 30-year-olds shed a tear just by looking at the logo..) has managed to earn Band Of Horses the visibility, of the public and the press, that many indie bands do not have. Let's add their positive approach to music and the little things in life, and here we have the magic formula: light indie-rock with bittersweet tones, soft soothing melodies, a repertoire of short songs, a great poignant charge, well-polished guitars on display, effective instrumental lines. All accompanied by the bright vocals of leader Ben Bridwell (similar to the singing of James Mercer) and by a crystal clear sound, where American tradition and alternative culture coexist. With Cease To Begin, Band Of Horses try to reaffirm the promising impressions aroused by their debut, without thrilling the spirits; because in these 10 songs you certainly don't grasp the same intensity and inspiration. Rather, above my head, a pesky lightbulb often lights up: "self-satisfaction." No, you won't find a The Great Salt Lake, nor even The First Song. Although revived by the powerful opening of the single Is There A Ghost, the album struggles to find a precise identity and therefore ends up flirting with broken hearts and banality. Complicit in this are the fawning No One's Gonna Love You (i.e.: playing such hackneyed chords that compared to that, Coldplay looks like CERN scientists), Lamb On The Lam (In The City), a vaguely Interpol wave-nocturnal interlude, and the slow ballad Detlef Schrempf (raise your lighters high!). To raise the bar a bit, we have Ode To LRC, Young/Wilco brand country-rock, the soaring Shins in Islands On The Coast, and the electric Cigarettes, Wedding Bands, distant relative of Husker Du's She Floated Away. It closes with the delicate sleepiness of Window Blues, with a warm organ embracing autumnal notes.
Conclusion: the bearded Bridwell and company have carried out an honest little task that will save them from turning to horse racing (as happens too often to too many young bands already on their second try), and Cease To Begin is not exactly the faded copy of the first album, nor a bad work. But there's the heavy doubt that leveling their style to broaden their audience, moving towards a more "pop" and crowd-pleasing side, is not such a brilliant idea in a world of fools.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Is There a Ghost (02:59)
I could sleep
I could sleep
I could sleep
I could sleep
When I lived alone
Is there a ghost in my house?
I could sleep
I could sleep
I could sleep
I could sleep
When I lived alone
Is there a ghost in my house?
When I lived alone
Is there a ghost in my house?
My house…
I could sleep
I could sleep
I could sleep
I could sleep
When I lived alone
Is there a ghost in my house?
When I lived alone
Is there a ghost in my house?
My house…
I could sleep
I could sleep
I could sleep
I could sleep
When I lived alone
Is there a ghost in my house?
When I lived alone
Is there a ghost in my house?
My house…
04 Detlef Schrempf (04:28)
And take a little walk when the worst is to come
When I saw you looking like I never thought
And say you're at a loss or forgot that words can do more than harm
The town is gonna talk, but these people do not
See things through to the very minimal
But what's it gonna cost to be gone?
If we see you like I hoped we never would
When eyes can't look at you any other way,
Any other way, any other way
When eyes can't look at you any other way,
Any other way, any other way
So take it as a song or a lesson to learn
And sometime soon be better than you were
If you say you're gonna go, then be careful
And watch how you treat every living soul
My eyes can't look at you any other way,
Any other way, any other way
When eyes can't look at you any other way,
Any other way, any other way
05 The General Specific (03:07)
If your trials end are really getting you down
We had a close call I didn't even see it
then another one I hardly believed it at all.
What the writers say it means shit to me now.
Plants and animals we're on a bender
when it's 80 degrees the end of December was coming on
Only for you and me.
When the showing up ends going back to the south
where hungry necks that I know and runnin' A blender
in a lightning storm disguised as a blessing I'm sure.
Knowing up here there comes a fork in the road
pants have gotta go, we're on an island
on the fourth of July looks like the tide is going home.
In time I'd find a little way to your heart
down to the general store for nothing specific
Gonna wash my bones in the Atlantic shore
only for you and me
07 Islands on the Coast (03:34)
Here's a copy,
the rest that you know,
and put the kind words to bed.
For man don't say why,
or even know how,
it's only awful as
the hell that you know.
When islands want to coast,
islands want to coast,
they'll know how,
yeah, they'll know how.
And only hours before
the house had burned down,
he shut the other door.
But if i don't see now,
or even know why,
it's only awful
as the hell that you know.
When islands want to coast,
islands want to coast,
they'll know how,
yeah, they'll know how.
Home (x4).
He was riding in
the next thing you know,
let's take the other door.
Now if i don't think right,
or even know how,
it's only awful
as the hell that you know.
When islands want to coast,
islands want to coast,
they'll know how,
yeah, they'll know how.
Home (x4).
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