When
Band of Horses surfaced in 2006 with
Everything All the Time, the band's rugged take on rock & roll drew quick parallels to
My Morning Jacket and early
Neil Young. That's mighty nice company for a young band, but co-founder
Mat Brooke nevertheless left the lineup that same summer, choosing to blaze his own trail with
Grand Archives instead.
Ben Bridwell,
Brooke's musical partner for nearly a decade, was left in control of
Horses -- a daunting position for the former
Carissa's Weird bassist, but one that ultimately resulted in a sophisticated, mature, and altogether superior follow-up.
Cease to Begin is the responsible adult to
Time's reckless teenager, with
Bridwell pitting his high, clear tenor against backdrops of hazy indie rock and campfire singalongs. While tracks like
"Weed Party" showed the band having harmless (albeit adolescent) fun on their debut, the good times on
Cease to Begin are more grown-up: a lo-fi, foot-stomping pop ditty (
"The General Specific"), a brief interlude of instrumental watercolors (
"Lamb on the Lam [In the City]"), a detour into twangy country (
"Marry Song"). Those looking for more anthemic rock will gravitate toward kickoff track
"Is There a Ghost," where the guitars are loud and
Bridwell's vocals are candy-coated in reverb, but
Cease to Begin shines it brightest under the twilight glow of
"Detlef Schrempf." Historically,
Schrempf was a German-born NBA basketball player with killer three-point accuracy -- and while that's certainly an odd choice for a song title, it's easy to forget as drums beat a lazy rhythm beneath
Bridwell's falsetto. Who knows whether he's singing to a hometown, a loved one, or his favorite member of the Seattle SuperSonics? It's still a thrilling listen, and the subtle humor hints that
Band of Horses isn't growing up too quickly. ~ Andrew Leahey
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