Band of Horses – Infinite Arms
May 18th, 2010
Fat Possum/Columbia
Score: 6.4

The third release from Seattle’s Band of Horses begins with an uplifting orchestral flourish, a move that is slightly out of place for a group that, while not unfamiliar with the epic or grandiose, succeeded on their first two by staying within themselves and playing up both technical and lyrical subtleties. Off the bat on Infinite Arms, these go right out the window on ‘Factory’ as frontman Ben Bridwell stumbles through a cheesy metaphor involving Now & Later candy with the band leaning far more heavily into country than they have in the past. Unfortunately, this happens more often than not on the album — so much so that when they finally do reign themselves in, it isn’t enough to save the record as a whole.

Bridwell and company underwent some personnel changes themselves during the recording of Infinite Arms. First, original bassist and guitarist Rob Hampton left, as did his initial replacement, leaving Bridwell and drummer Creighton Barret as the only two remaining from the group that recorded Everything All the Time. This should not have had much to do with the country direction of the album, especially considering they kept all-star producer Phil Ek who has manned the boards for Built to Spill, The Dodos, and the first two Band of Horses records, although this is their first release for a major label. We can assume, then, that this was a choice the band made and, for the most part, it was poorly thought out.

This isn’t to say that I don’t like country, or that Band of Horses can’t do country, but it just doesn’t work here. They use the same intervals for their harmonies from track to track, the twang in the guitar and vocals seems hackneyed and forced, but most importantly Bridwell’s lyrics seem canned, or worse, tossed off. Encompassing all of these, ‘Older’ might just be the worst song they’ve ever written, with the wince-inducing chorus of “After all my plans, they melt into sand/yeah you will be there on my mind through all/Don’t want to understand why you never get older”. Rather than adding an additional element to their already countrified indie sound, they end up sounding like the band the crowd at Bob’s Country Bunker were expecting in Blues Brothers.

But there are some decent tunes to be found, and having seen BoH in concert a couple of times, I can imagine that the energy of live performance would benefit even some of the weakest tracks. ‘Laredo’ is one of the first songs to make it to radio, and while the hook seems to borrow some from ‘The Great Salt Lake’, it is a great example of the balance between country and pop that they managed so well on their first two records. In fact, the middle stretch from ‘Laredo’ to ‘Dilly’ is fairly solid, featuring several ballads where Bridwell shows he’s still got it. Both ‘Way Back Home’ and ‘Infinite Arms’ have the potential to be this album’s ‘Funeral’, but they never quite explode. They are still powerful in their own right, especially the latter. When Bridwell’s tenor offers a floating “When my thoughts turn to you”, it is just as good as your favorite tracks from Everything All The Time or Cease To Begin.

On the opener, he mentions that “It’s temporary/this state I’m in” and while it would be easy to apply this to the whole album and just laugh it off, it more likely refers to a lyrical rut. So while this might not be the album we thought it would, there are some hidden gems that fans will be glad to have.

Paul Bulow

Myspace/Official Site