Lullaby Magazine

Band of Horses - Cease to Begin

Band of Horses are just one of the slew of bands (Arctic Monkeys) releasing material less than a year after their debut album. The reason I point this out, is because it's quite suprising how quick some of these bands are moving and how much fresh material they have hidden beneath their belts. Is it too fast and will these bands burn out?

We first got a taste of Band of Horses last year on "Everything All the Time" a promising debut it was, an album full of rocking numbers with a folk/country feel to it. "The Funeral" got them a substantial amount of attention, how would they fare second time round? Some have already stated they like it much more then it's predecessor, some think otherwise. Cease to Begin See's front man Ben Bridwell, expanding his songwriting talents even further with an even dose of rock and roll and balladry, even though the ballads seem to have been more at focus here. "No One's Gonna Love You" shows his versatility before leading into the albums centre piece "Detlef Schrempf" a very touching statement.

"Is There a Ghost", "Ode to LRC" and Cigarettes, Wedding Bands" are all blistering rock numbers working in perfectly with the more melancholy material, though none as equally as impressive as the jaunty "The General Specific". Considering founding member Mat Brooke decided to leave Bridwell in the lurch to pursue his own band it's surprising how much focus was retained to create such a cohesive effort. This won't be the bands most defining work but it's defintiely a promising path towards it.

7/10

Sean B