Review Summary: The album certainly is not free of its share of flaws, but the good points more then make up for them.
Band of Horses are a five piece from Seattle, that have already gained some critical success with their first release, Limited Edition Tour EP. They are often compared to My Mourning Jacket, largely due to both of the lead singers similar vocals. They were able to land a spot opening up for Iron and Wine, and impressed his famous indie label, Sub-Pop, to sign them to a deal. This alone gives them a certain amount of the all important indie cred, but many bands do not follow this up with much of an effort, and fall on their collective faces. So could Band of Horses fly high, or would they hit the ground like so many before them? Well, on March 21, 2006, their debut Everything All The Time, would hit the selves, and fans and critics alike could judge for themself.
Band of Horses are:
- Ben Bridwell
- Mat Brooke
- Creighton Barrett
- Rob Hampton
- Joe Arnone
The album starts off with the appropriately titled The First Song, however, The First Song could easily be called the worst song (witty, eh?). The song begins its dreadfulness with a generic and sloppy guitar riff done by Brooke. Bridwell’s vocals do not do much to turn the tides either, with him seemingly trying to hit the right key, but of course fails, and ends up sounding like a Yorke rip-off. The lone good point of the song is when it is over, but at that point you question how could you waste four minutes of your life on a song that went nowhere. Well, it’s good to get the worst song on the album out of the way right from the start, right? Hardly, that spot is usually meant for a song that sums up the album as awhole, or at least a good pop single. But Bridwell’s ill excused song titled seemed to warrant the spot, sadly.
The album gets better as you move along, the next two songs share many features. Wicked Girl and Our Swords show off Bridwell’s voice and the rest of the bands talent at their given instrument. Wicked Girl uses a great opening guitar riff from Brooke and moves on from their. Bridwell comes into his own with his vocals, and gets to spout off some nice lyrics over a great backing beat from Hampton. Sheds light on the more poppy side of Band of Horses, as the bridge makes the song come alive through Brookes great picking. Our Swords really flows well with this track, as Bridwell gets right into singing as Brooke once again uses a decent amount of different cords to keep you interested. This band makes their living on Bridwell’s vocals, and anyone could see why here. He seems to save them from the dreaded obscure indie band, he breathes life into a song that may or may not be good without him, and these two songs, seem to fit perfectly.
Everything All The Time has its share of truly great songs also, like Part One, and The Great Salt Lake both show a large amount of potential for Band of Horses, and can’t help impress even the harshest critic. Part One shows off the more folk side of the band, and starts off slow with Bridwell’s voice picking up the tempo. Through his emotional lyrics and impressive voice, Bridwell helps the song come off as a beautiful experience, and the band helps out through Brooke’s great guitar work and good beat done by Hampton. The Great Salt Lake follows this up nicely with a another solid riff from Bridwell from the start. Easily Bridwell’s best vocal performance on the album, and great progression make this the albums high point. Easily one of the best songs of 06', Band of Horses seem to have a winner, and it really shows off where the band could go next.
A very impressive debut, that makes fans and critics take notice of this small indie band from Seattle. The album certainly is not free of its share of flaws, but the good points more then make up for them. Already getting attention for their Limited Edition Tour EP, this will only bring them new fans and who knows where they will go from there. Everything All The Time is not the best debut of 2006, but is certainly up there, and this reviewer is now awaiting what Band of Horses will do next.
Pros:
- Great vocals.
- Good guitar work throughout.
Cons:
- Vocals have to save some songs.
- Boring at times.
Recommended Songs:
- Part One.
- The Great Salt Lake.
- Weed Party.
Final Rating:
4/5 (Excellent)
