I’m more than a little thrown by the new Band Of Horses album “Infinite Arms.” I just don’t get it — and I really, really wanted to.
The album is the third release from the indie rock group. They have built themselves a large following in a relatively short span of time, but despite the pedestal on which I had them before listening to the new album, I must say — I’m very rarely so wrong and disappointed at the same time.
Aside from the fact that lead singer Ben Bridwell is the only remaining member from the original lineup, his voice seems to be one of the only remaining perks of listening to their music. The extra little something the band generally has in every song, whether it breaks your heart, makes you smile or gets it stuck in your head while it’s not playing, is gone. To put it plainly, it’s missing that spark the band typically brought to their other albums.
As a fan of the group, as I expressed earlier, I had high hopes for the new collection. I know it’s dicey — at best — to count on a newer group so heavily, but after they aced it with their debut album “Everything All The Time,” and followed up with “Cease To Begin,” two albums I have enjoyed since the first time I heard them, I thought there was no way I would be disappointed.
Looks like I was wrong.
Aside from not having the feeling of a Band Of Horses album in general, the songs themselves (band aside) were boring and the lyrics were cliché, at best. In particular, the song “Blue Beard” honestly was one of the worst things I’ve ever heard. Ever. And I have heard a lot of awful things. It seemed every line of every verse was a mix of being contrived and overused — it was almost impressive how much I disliked it.
The album as a collection of songs was terribly confusing. The styles and feels of the songs jump around, and while I enjoy variety as much as the next person, I really felt that in this case, it was unnerving.
Even though I might not have been a fan of the new release as a whole, as with any collection it did have its finer points. The song “Evening Kitchen,” was a welcomed highlight in a line of underwhelming tunes and their choice to end the album with “Neighbor” was a good one — a “leave them on a good note” kind of deal.
Although the singer’s voice, which was always one of the biggest draws to the group, is still in prime form, it proves to not be enough to keep “Infinite Arms” from sinking, and though it might break my heart to say it, no one’s gonna love this more than their other albums — skip it and remember them as they were.
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