Customer Reviews

Cease to Begin

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I feel like a sham. Here I am, calling myself a fan of indie rock, and I'm just now hearing Band of Horses for the first time. All that stuff last year about their debut album "Everything All the Time" winning awards and finding its way on to Top 10 lists had absolutely no effect on me. Granted, I had heard of the band, but I never went out of my way to pick up a copy of their work. In the immortal words of Ron Burgundy, I immediately regret this decision. "Cease to Begin" has not only reminded me why I started listening to indie music in the first place, but it has single-handedly revitalized my passion for the genre.

The album begins with the beautiful "Is There a Ghost," in which Ben Bridwell repeats "I could sleep when I lived alone. Is there a ghost in my house?" for the entirety of the song. It never gets old though. The song begins softly, with Bridwell's mesmerizing vocals and a barely-there guitar before the rest of the band explodes onto the track. Chaotic drumming and the steady, rocking strum of electric guitars carry the song to it's unwanted conclusion. On "No One's Gonna Love You," Bridwell's vocals are equally as powerful as he belts out his poignant vocals with the utmost passion. The melody is infectious as well, especially by the time the bridge comes around. Here Bridwell sings, "They could have warned you when things start splitting at the seams. And now the whole thing's tumbling down," and you can't help but be captured by it. It is a finely crafted song, and one of the album's more memorable tracks.

"Detlef Schrempf" takes it's name from the former Seattle Supersonics player. But unlike the athlete's aggressive and intimidating style of play, the song is the first time that the band slows things down on the album (it clearly has nothing to do with Detlef, either). Bridwell's lyrics are again very poignant, and his delivery is flawless. "The General Specific" picks things back up with a bouncy composition, complete with hand claps and a sing-along melody. The song won't win any awards, but it's a fun song nonetheless. The same can be said for "Islands on the Coast," which marks the first time the band really lets loose on "Cease to Begin." The music here is absolutely intense, and Birdwell's vocals equally so, though it's difficult to decipher what he's saying most of the time.

"Marry Song" slows things back down and prominently features a Rhodes piano and harmonizing vocals. The song is very folksy, and the drums hardly even come into play here. Birdwell begins the song by singing, "I'll marry my lover in a place to admire...I can look in her eyes and thank God that I'm forgiven," and the rest of the song doesn't disappoint either. The album wraps up with the unadulterated rock of "Cigarettes, Wedding Bands" and the cool alt-country sound of "Windows Blues." The former's lyrics are among the album's best, while the latter ends "Cease to Begin" on a very positive note with the band sounding as cohesive as they ever do and Bridwell's vocals sounding just as beautiful.

After listening to "Cease to Begin" several times, I can safely say that Band of Horses are one of indie rock's more impressive and unceasingly pleasing bands. I may be late to the party, but at this point I'm just glad I decided to show up. "Cease to Begin" is a brilliant album, and definitely gets me excited to go back and hear the band's other works. Sure, it may seem a bit front-heavy, but by the time the final second ticks off the clock, you can't help but be pleased with what you have just experienced. If you have been waiting for 2007's indie rock album of the year, wait no more. It has arrived!

Recommended for fans of Band of Horses, Rogue Wave, The Shins and anyone who is also a bit late to the party.

Key Tracks:
1. "Is There A Ghost"
2. " Ode to LRC"
3. "No One's Gonna Love You"
4. "Detlef Schrempf"
5. "Cigarettes, Wedding Bands"

8 out of 10 Stars

Last year, Band of Horses released a truly impressive debut album "Everything All the time", containing several instantly classic songs like "The Funeral" and "The Great Salt Lake". Despite pretty much non-stop touring since them the guys are back already with a new album.

"Cease to Begin" (10 tracks, 35 min.) is an equally impressive album. The opener "Is There A Ghost" starts off very BoH-like, only to crash into electric guitars and very up-tempo about 1 minute into the song, bringing the message that these guys have expanded their musical pallet. "Ode to Lag" follows, with equally strong music. The good tracks keep coing: "No One's Gonna Love You" is a great pensive tune, as is "Detlef Schrempf" (yes, he the German former NBA basketball player), and "The General Specific" closes the first half of the album, an exuberrant tune. After a short instrumental, the second half kicks off with a rousing "Islands On the Coast", followed by a great, somber "Marry Song", with superb underlying keyboards. Yet the best is still to come! "Cigarettes Wedding Bands" is THE stand-out track of the album, sure proof how much BoH has matured musically in just a year's time. The closer "Window Blues" is too twangy/country for my liking, and the least interesting track on the album.

"Cease to Begin" is an outstanding album, and equal, if not better, than "Everything All the Time". They have not so much abandoned their early-My Morning Jacket-soundalike style, but expanded on it, to great effect. I've had the good fortune of seeing Band of Horses last year during the "Everything All the Time" tour, and if you have a chance to see these guys in concert, don't miss them, you will be blown away. Meanwhile "Cease to Begin" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

"Everything All the Time", this band's 2006 debut, was a very strong indie rock album that didn't break much new ground, but did everything right... uh, all the time. The songs are so infectious that it has remained in heavy rotation in my CD player, computer, and MP3 player since I got it.

It is for these reasons that I have greatly anticipated "Cease to Begin", and overall, I'm very pleased with the result. Perhaps I should have waited to run the album five or ten times before reviewing, but... here I am.

First, let me say that there is no equivalent to "Funeral" or "Great Salt Lake", in terms of an anthemic song that serves as a centerpiece for the rest of the record - at least not one I've identified yet. "Is There a Ghost?" is catchy and insistent, but I don't know if it will hook me the same way; others may well respond to it differently. "Marry Song" is the song that seems most likely to get repeated spins, but it's a ballad, not a rocker. The main difference this time around is the confidence of the band in playing the songs. They sound a lot more comfortable with themselves, and Bridwell was definitely more comfortable in exploring the range of his songwriting this time. Where "Everything All the Time" could be taken as a 'start-to-finish' type of listening experience, its strength was in its individual songs. This record, on the other hand, is best suited as a complete-play-through, stream-of-consciousness type of record. It should not be judged solely by the type of record that "Everything..." was.

In brief, the record is very, very good, and highly recommended, and it receives four stars from me for the same reason that "Everything..." did: it ain't long enough!

This is hands down, one of the best albums of the year. I still haven;t taken this out of my car's CD player since it went in a month ago. The vocals are brilliant. They really stand tall among the other indie rock bands.

Simply gorgeous music and vocals. Listened to this while driving through the Ohio countryside and lounging at the campfire. I love this. Just buy it now... you need it.

I got hooked up to this album by way of it appearing on a few best of '07 lists, and I nearly skipped checking it out because I thought the lead singer's falsetto voice would drive me crazy after a few tracks. I was right- it did drive me crazy, but not in a bad way. Haunting, beautiful melodies and very intricate songwriting and music making, this has quickly become one of my favorites. Yes, it's weird (wierd?) but this is an album not to miss.

The opening track of Band of Horses' new release, "Is There a Ghost," was one of the few tracks that I actively sought out after hearing it on the radio. I was immediately hooked on this band's sound, a sound that was familiar but entirely new.

Band of Horses was formed by Ben Bridwell and Mat Brooke in 2004 Seattle. They're currently signed to Sub Pop Records, a Seattle-based independent label which also manages The Shins, Iron & Wine, and The Postal Service. BoH started out opening for Iron & Wine, and on the cusp of their October 2007 release they started playing their own, packed, giant shows.

Their popularity is merited. Cease to Begin is a notable improvement upon their debut Everything All the Time: It is more straightforward, more refined, more likeable. Lead singer Bridwell's voice had me confused upon first listen, thinking I was hearing a new MMJ track, as his voice is sometimes identical to Jim James's (especially in the reverb-soaked stuff James is so well-known for), only less dark and more pop-friendly. They sound like an amalgamation of My Morning Jacket, The Shins, and a little Coldplay. Their myspace bio claimes that "Band of Horses' woodsy, dreamy songs ooze with amorphous tension, longing and hope," and this is very true.

"Is There a Ghost," beginning with slow anticipation, builds into some powerful stuff, while the next three are very beautiful indie-pop songs about loss that are ironically optimistic. I've gotten into the habit of listening only to the first four songs--which are undoubtedly the strongest--but the rest of the album is quite good. The twangier "The General Specific" and the more upbeat "Island on the Coast" would fit perfectly on a Shins album, while "Marry Song" suggests an attempt at singer-songwriter-ism (MMJ, I&W), but suffers from being too repetitive and not seemingly heartfelt. "Cigarettes Wedding Bands" is another rocker, which sports a catchy chorus, and the closer "Windows Blues" is another slow song, which works much better, since they don't play around with harmonies which allows Bridwell's voice to shine through. It's a quick listen, at only 35 minutes, but it's definitely repeat-friendly.

Wonderful listening experience. Awesome cannabis fueled dreamy tunes. Worth the price for the first song alone!

"If you haven't heard Band of Horses' first release "Everything All The Time", then stop reading this and go buy that album immediately, then come back and buy this one. This band found their beautiful, unique sound on their first album, and it only gets better here.

Cease to Begin picks up where the first album left off, and it opens with a bang on the very first track "Is There a Ghost". From this track alone, you know the album is going to be top-notch. There is a perfect mixture of upbeat heavier material and slower ballads with beautifully haunting harmonized vocals [see "St. Augustine on 1st album, "Marry Song" and "Window Blues" on this album]. The most notable track is "Island on the Coast" which opens with a furious display of guitar speed-picking and does not let up.

The only con to this album is its length, which is 10 songs, one of which is an instrumental clocking in at :58 and serving as a sort of brief interlude to the second half of the album. Cease to Begin definitely leaves you wanting more, as did the first album, but a short album with no filler is most certainly preferrable to one with several more mediocre tracks. This album is 100% solid material and you will not be disappointed."

I at first dismissed BoH as a weak knock off of other bands, but I have to say that they proved me wrong. This is a strong album that is fun to listen to. And I now admit going back to their first album, it is much better than I initially thought. Their songs and albums are short, but they are tight and melodic. I actually like that this album, and their previous one, is strong throughout, without weaker songs added simply to extend the length. They do write much more "pop" songs than other "indie" bands, and I expect BoH has much more mainstream appeal because of this, but that's not always a bad thing.