“Laredo”
from the album Infinite Arms
2010
iTunes
Band of Horses‘ first two albums bore the Sub Pop stamp, and now its third, Infinite Arms, is being released by Fat Possum, via Columbia. Add those three labels together, and that pretty well defines Band of Horses: a Seattle band that channels twangy, rootsy rock through an indie sensibility, with a major-league polish. Infinite Arms isn’t as precisely pitched as the band’s 2007 hit Cease to Begin — a record that seamlessly combined the gentle and the aggressive in one memorable song after another — but it is recognizably BoH, with some minor tweaks. Bandleader Ben Bridwell takes a few more chances with the arrangements on Infinite Arms, adding thick orchestration to the loping album-opener “Factory,” and a Jeff Lynne/Joe Pernice sheen to the wildly catchy pop song “Dilly.” Bridwell also positions the band as more of a straight-up rock group this time, front-loading the album with loud, insistent songs—like the charged-up, easy-to-like “Laredo” — and later falling back on volume or sonic clutter when the melodies fail to take hold. (Which happens too often on Infinite Arms, frankly.) Three albums in, Band of Horses could stand to push itself more than it does here, though there is some comfort in the familiarity. This is a band with a brand.