Band Of Horses - Cease To Begin Album Review

Band Of Horses
Cease To Begin
Album Review

Some second albums just seem rushed. Band of Horses' 2005 debut, Everything All The Time, was a stunner - all Built To Spill/ My Morning Jacket melodic rock and a chillingly great ability to build towards a sophisticated headbanging chorus, like Supertramp on steroids. Funeral or The Great Salt Lake would sound as fresh after 100 listens as after 1. That album's follow-up, Cease To Begin, has real highlights, none bigger than the opener Is There A Ghost, which picks up right where the debut left off. It's a stunner. From there, however, only a couple of tracks head back towards its standards.

A few too many end up in Coldplay-esque meandering, or even mild country (The Marry Song), to continue their Band of Horses-by-numbers retread. Cigarettes, Wedding Bands is a good song, Detlef Schrempf a great title for a so-so song. There is a feeling permeating Cease To Begin that Band of Horses may have played their big game for their debut. It is a lovely way to spend 40 minutes - Band of Horses are a band to be grateful for, after all - but it's a bit of a sophomore dip.

3.5/5

Mike Rea