Infinite Arms
Album | Band Of Horses
Former indie rockers lose what made them special.
The first two Band of Horses albums were exercises in lush, pastoral Americana. Both were heavy on atmosphere and buoyed by frontman Ben Bridwell’s soaring yelp of a voice, which made it easy to overlook the sometimes slack songwriting. The band's major-label debut seems a conscious effort for the band to step up its game, with somewhat mixed results. Infinite Arms has moments of dreamy wonderment (particularly the title track and “On My Way Back Home”), but much of the shimmer that permeated earlier releases has been replaced by a deadening earnestness. The shoegazery quality of Band of Horses’ previous work is what set them apart from so many other alt-countrified indie rock bands, and its loss hurts. Infinite Arms is by no means a bad record, but the best tunes here get lost between songs that are nice enough but ultimately pretty forgettable.
