Band of Horses is another band I wasn’t super familiar with their back catalog, aside from hearing a song here, there, etc., this was the first full album I had really sat down with from them. I knew they had that very pop friendly alt/indie/country/folk ish kind of vibe going on, with a lot of pop leaning songs that had some bluesy/country licks thrown in there. And in that sense, this album is exactly what I would have thought, as you have some pretty standard straight ahead rock songs with some harmonies, some slide guitars and some melodious hooks thrown in that is just done in a very straight up way, in a good way. While it won’t probably blow any minds, they have created a solid straight ahead alt/rock record here with some solid songs and some good sing along melodies that is a nice disc to flip through for sure.
As far as the sound goes, I think this is pretty much what I expected, pretty straightforward, pretty melodic, some harmonies, some light distortion, mid-tempo jams that don’t really try to go too far off the path but are also very solidly on a good, harmonious path as well. The alt/country/rock vibe throughout the record is a good backdrop for some just solidly put together songs.
The first few songs on the record didn’t really quite grab me at first, and honestly they are still not my favorites on there, but starting around “Laredo” it starts to pick up for me. “Laredo” is a alt-rock jam through and through, and feels very 90s alt-rock to me, shimmering high melodies and short but sweet guitar hooks thrown in. “Blue Beard” is a good slow jam with its folksy intro and very chilled out guitar and vocal focused bridge, and then the chorus is very well done with some backing harmonies and slow, ballad-y drumming, finishing with a very cool 70s folk rock style outro section on the song. “On My Way Home” and “Infinite Arms” continue the alt/folk vibe along and are two pretty solid songs. “Dilly” introduces some synths to the mix, and also reminds me very heavily of 90s alt-rock jams back in the day, especially with that chorus. “Evening Kitchen” goes straight folk rock on the vibe with some great vocals and harmonies throughout, the chorus is killer. “For Annabelle” is a cool alt/country with some cool slide guitar thrown in. “NW Apt.”, the prescribed single, is not my favorite jam on the album, but still good, and is 90s alt-rock 101.
The album never gets too high or really gets too low, it runs right down the middle for the most part and succeeds pretty well in doing that. Overall, it is a great blend of alt-country-folk 70s kinds of sounds that are all the rage now mixed with some good peppy 90s alt-rock jams. The mix works well on the album, but overall the album has some good tracks and is well done, but it doesn’t really stand up and make you take notice. This could be due to the non-offensive general wide appeal of the genres they are dabbling in or another reason entirely, but the album is good overall, it just is not an album that is unique or on edge enough to warrant a hugely passionate response. It is nice, and it is cool to listen to, but it is more an album to just throw on time to time when you want something solid but not too heavy or complicated. As far as playing in this style of music though, these guys have done this one quite well.
Band of Horses – Dilly – From Infinite Arms (CD, Vinyl, MP3, iTunes)
