Infinite Arms

I know I promised a review of Infinite Arms by Band of Horses weeks ago. I'm sorry I'm just now getting to it. I listened to the album a couple of times through and kept waiting for the critique to come, and I could never get any definite opinion formed, and that's what I'm left with. I really love Band of Horses, and I wanted to write a rave review for its new album, so I was torn.

The album is not bad, by any means, but I found it not up to the standards set in Cease to Begin and Everything All The Time. There's nothing that stands out to me in the latest album like "Ode to LRC" and "Detlef Shrempf" in Cease to Begin and Everything All The Time's "Our Swords," which has an excellent bass line intro that just makes you want to do the rock show head bob. Actually, after just replaying some of Cease to Begin, I can see why I was disappointed. There are some very excellent tracks on that album, and I guess I was expecting them to continue that direction, following their indie-unique sound instead of morphing and conforming into their major record company label.

I do like the pretty acoustic-ness in the title track, and it seems to be the only song that retains the band's haunting vocals found in the previous albums. It feels kind of like the band tried to clean up their sound when they should have left it raw and dirty.