Band of Horses

If I had any hipster music snob friends left, I would brag about how I got the new Band of Horses album, "Cease to Begin" a day before its official release date. But I would leave out the part about buying it on 4th St.

Man, this record is great. And this band is proving themselves to be great. Seems like shooting yourself in the foot to sort of keep the whole old-school emo thing (circa 1997) as part of you format, but Band of Horses does this well by mixing that sound with a countryfied Neil Youngish sound and Built to Spill-esque drumming and vocal yelps. Shoot, the intro to one song sounds Identical to Tristeza (circa 98). Appleseed Cast meets Uncle Tupelo or something. Brilliant!

Lyrically, frontman Bidwell shines here. On the opening track there are only 3 lines but they poetically mess with your head. The song evolves like a poem cannot, due to the fact that you cannot physically see the next line comming. Each line, when layered, gives new meaning. He starts off saying "I could sleep I could sleep I could sleep" which makes the listener think he's sleepy, tired, a visceral cry of fatigue. Then he continues, "when I lived alone." which makes one wonder if this is sexual or the opposite- like fighting with a domestic partner or something or that he prefers to live alone. But both of these meanings are squashed when he finishes the thought with "Is there a ghost in my house?" Then you realize he's just talking about being haunted!

I could sleep when I lived alone. Is there a ghost in my house?
Genius.

Intense hard rockers. Beautiful, lush slow country jams. Will make my best of 07 list.