The last time that mellow indie-folk rockers Band of Horses were in town, was in January of 2008, when they played a sold-out show at Newport’s Historic Southgate House. This performance came just months after the release of their highly, critically-acclaimed second full-length release, Cease to Begin, which debuted at #35 on the Billboard charts and featured hits like “Is There A Ghost” and “No One’s Gonna Love You.”
A few things have changed since then for the Seattle-based band: a new lineup, a new label and a new album. Both Rob Hampton and Ludwig Boss (who replaced Hampton) have left the band, but they have added Tyler Ramsey, who actually got his start opening for the band on tour as a solo artist in 2007. Ramsey actually has some local ties believe it or not, where he occasionally played with The Hiders several years ago, and was featured on their 2006 album, Valentine.
Band of Horses have also left the label Sub Pop for the major label Columbia, drawing the phrase “sell out” from many critics. These same critics have also not taken so kindly to the band’s latest record, Infinite Arms, where words like “disappointing”, “dull” and “boring” are being thrown around all too much. That’s okay though, because we’re all entitled to our own opinions. I mean sure, the album features mostly slower, more mellow tunes (“ballads” if you will), and the sped-up, more electrical rock songs are a few and far between, but what you will find on this record is what Band of Horses does best: write intelligent songs and create beautiful harmonies. I believe that this is one of those albums you have to spend some time with, and also that the worst thing a band can do is make the same album twice, or three times for that matter. I love everything that I’ve ever heard from this band, but if you’re familiar with their first two records, you may have had lingering thoughts in the back of your head that those two records could’ve easily been compiled into one.
And it’s not even like this new album is that much different and unlike anything they’ve previous done. You still have that classic Band of Horses sound on most of the songs, but there’s just enough fresh ideas and sounds here to make this album stand on its own. It’s like frontman Ben Bridwell put it about this being the band’s “first” album…”With this record it’s a real band that I’m part of. No one’s going anywhere, everyone’s contributing to the songwriting process.”
Infinite Arms opens with a track called “Factory”, which has a sound I’ve been dying to hear from this band for quite some time - the calmness of Bridwell’s voice, accompanied by an epic string and horn section. I said previously that you’ll find a lot of ballad-like songs here, and that’s true with tracks like the Ramsey-written “Evening Kitchen”, the countrified lap steel on “Older” and “Blue Beard”, which has some Beatle-like multi-part “la la la” harmonies, and that even sort of holds true for “Laredo”, which actually sounds more like a hit single rather than a ballad, featuring a nice mix of both the slow and mellow and upbeat and sped-up. Sure there’s those “heavier” songs that sound as if they could’ve been written years ago, like “Compliments”, “NW Apt” and the closing “Neighbor”, which actually takes awhile to build up into the crashing drums and cymbals of Creighton Barrett. But you’ll also find some unfamiliar and new sounds, like the twangy citar used in “For Annabelle” and the electric memotron used in “Dilly.” And of course no Band of Horses record would be complete without those relaxing tunes you’d like to lay in bed and fall asleep to, like “On My Way Back Home” and the title track, “Infinite Arms.” By this point it’s probably clear that this is one of my favorite bands and I think that other fans of this band will certainly enjoy Infinite Arms as much as their first two records, but if you’re just starting out, I think it would be a safe bet if you went back in time and started at the beginning of the Band of Horses catalogue.
Band of Horses come to Inner Circle (formerly Annie’s on Kellogg Avenue) on Tuesday, July 13. Doors open at 8 pm and tickets are still available, which you can find online at Ticketmaster, or at Shake It Records and Everybody’s Records, which are offered at a flat rate of $25 (add $1 if you’re paying by credit card).