Band of Horses -- Hipster Music

Cease to Begin

While I certainly say "Album of the Year!" way to often, this one may be on that short list. "Is There a Ghost" opens the album with a bang, steaming right out of the gates. The thing is just huge! Now while I will normally complain about an album being kind of one-note, it's actually okay in the case of Band of Horses. Their range isn't big, but the mood they set pervades throughout the record, casting a kind of downtrodden and sad optimism over its ghostly but majestic echo. I somehow envision weeping willows and giant antebellum mansions with flaking paint slowly moldering and returning to the earth. I haven't the slightest clue why, but it's what a bunch of the songs say to me. It doesn't quite have the stunners song-wise that their debut had, but taken as a whole the album is amazing. Perhaps it's the South seeping into their veins.

Everything All the Time

Holy fuckin' shit! Ok, forgive me, I'm drunk while I'm writing this, but I've not been this excited about a debut album since Jane's Addiction. Yeah, fuck you guys; "Mountain Song" was awesome! Anyway, Band of Horses has got me seriously pumped. Even after multiple listens, there is not a larger, more dynamic album out there. Seriously, you're a total wonk if you don't own this. Just fuckin' amazing, and 'The Funeral" is one of the best singles in recent memory.