{"id":40813,"date":"2008-03-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-03-31T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/cease-to-begin\/"},"modified":"2008-03-31T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-03-31T00:00:00","slug":"cease-to-begin","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/cease-to-begin\/","title":{"rendered":"Cease To Begin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Second albums can be a tricky thing, especially when it comes to the comparatively short attention span of indie listeners looking for the latest trend. Seattle<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s Band Of Horses released their lushly catchy debut Everything All The Time <\/i>in 2005 and, following the departure of founding member Mat Brooke, the band relocated to South Carolina<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>. Combining a new small-town spin with their sweeping guitars and vocals and tenderly evocative yet anthemic lyrics, the band on Cease To Begin <\/i>deftly avoids the traps of either sounding too samey or abandoning the quirks that endeared listeners to them in the first place. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The album churns to life with lead-off single \u201cIs There A Ghost,\u201d really the closest thing to the soaring energy of \u201cFuneral,\u201d Everything All The Time\u2019s <\/i>incomparable standout, on this disc. The lyrics are spare on \u201cGhost,\u201d three lines repeated throughout in a refrain that creates a sort of trance-like effect, which is nicely matched by the textured crunch of guitars and drums overlaid by lead singer Ben Bridwell\u2019s clear, distinctive vocals. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Things continue in the same vein of pulsing energy as \u201cOde To LRC\u201d launches out, which soon gives way to lightly measured strings as Bridwell begins to croon about a stray dog, coupling powerful lines like \u201cThe town is so small\/How could anybody not look me in the eyes the way that I drive by?\u201d with a sense of gentle, wide-eyed amazement that just allows him to get away with a sentiment as open yet potentially cheesy as \u201cThe world is such a wonderful place\u201d that then dissolves into a chorus of \u201cLa-di-das.\u201d <\/o:p><\/p>\n

One of the highlights of Cease To Begin <\/i>for me is \u201cNo One\u2019s Gonna Love You,\u201d which I spun on repeat to no end when this was first released. Combining shimmering guitar with Bridwell\u2019s multi-layered vocals and a straightforward drum beat, this track manages to be radio-friendly without a hint of sheen, only the heartfelt openness that Band Of Horses has made their signature.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The secluded, small-town influence makes itself most evident on tracks like \u201cDetlef Schrempf,\u201d which breaks through a string of up-temp, more riff-based rockers with its slight touches of guitar, downbeat drums and the quietly evocative refrain, \u201cEyes can\u2019t look at you any other way.\u201d <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Still, the band is just as strong when it comes to delivering material with widened scope and a new sense of energy, as seen on \u201cThe General Specific,\u201d which is all catchy, jangling pop and plinking piano, and \u201cIslands Of The Coast,\u201d the most brazenly upbeat, riff-driven offering on the album. Finally, though, things come to a close with the slow-burning country wash of \u201cWindow Blues,\u201d which fades away to a banjo outro that gives the album its enclosed, serene feel, a sense of subtlety and bare emotion that characterizes the band themselves.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Though it clocks in at just under 35 minutes, Cease To Begin <\/i>is one of those solid stunners of a record that, just when everything seems like it\u2019s already been done, still manages to surprise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":29270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7790],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-40813","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-band-of-horses","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40813"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}