Band Of Horses - Cease To Begin (2007)

Band Of Horses plow the same fertile gossamer pop field as such like-minded tone-farmers as the Arcade Fire or Polyphonic Spree, with just a twang of down-home folksiness like My Morning Jacket. What sets the shimmering guitars and clashing instrumentation of Cease To Begin apart from these other indie-rock wags, however, is the overwhelming sense of melancholy that inhabits every song here. Amidst the jangly, atmospheric, ever-shifting instrumental tides, Ben Bridwell’s high-lonesome vocals rise and retreat while the delicious guitars often come crashing down around his head.

Is There A Ghost is a magnificent opening statement for Cease To Begin, with the instrumentation careening off all four corners of the song, Bridwell’s vocals threatening to break through the surface. Ode To LRC sets the band’s blueprint to stone: a mid-tempo rocker with dancing guitarwork, trembling vox, crashing rhythms and oblique lyrics driving the song into rarified, mesmerizing territory. Much of the rest of Cease To Begin doesn’t stray far from this well-worn path, which doesn’t mean that the journey isn’t worth your time. Surprises like the rustically funky The General Specific or the Levon-twangy Marry Song are gems hidden within the grooves, throwbacks to a simpler time when music had vision and personality and the power to move mountains.

As far as sophomore efforts go, Cease To Begin is pretty fine, offering many moments of fleeting magic.... (Sub Pop Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Cease To Begin from Amazon.com)