Review Summary: A surprisingly catchy, if repetitive, debut LP that'll keep you coming back
When first listening to An Horse, you can easily see why they have toured with bands like Death cab for Cutie. Their sound consists of that same hopeful despair that you can't help but contract while listening to their album. Their sound is definitively Indie, with not too much going on in any particular song. We've been seeing a lot of these two piece, guy/girl, bands coming out more often now and amongst them all, An Horse definitely has something to offer.
The main reason this band stands out is Kate Cooper's vocals. She sounds as if I'm listening to my neighbor singing love songs out her window. Cox does a stellar job on drums and is a perfect complement to Cooper with his background vocals. If I have on gripe about the album it is this: from song to song, nothing changes much. Not that it's a terribly bad thing, An Horse as a package is incredibly catchy, but as you delve deeper into the album you notice that the guitar riffs sound stale from song to song and Cooper's vocals carry the same emotion and tone for each song. If you're not paying attention the whole album could pass by and you'll only think you've heard one track.
The one song that breaks this trend is "Little Lungs", which demonstrates how much potential these two musicians have. With a slow melodic opening that slowly builds up to this explosion of emotion at the end of the track; It is without a doubt their best song. The opening track "Camp Out" will grab you and you'll find yourself instantly acclimated to their sound.
Rearranging Beds is a great album, and definitely something An Horse should be proud of as their first mainstream record. Cooper's main vocals and Cox's effort as drummer and background vocals are what makes this band so good. The easily forgettable guitar work is the only thing holding them back. But when your band only consists of so many elements, as is the case in a duo group, one element bringing the band down weighs heavier than in a full set band. That said, this is still a very good album and something that you can listen to over and over and will not easily let you go.
