Product Description

Released in March of 2006, Band of Horses debut Everything All the Time made good on the
promise hinted at in their early shows and demos. The band went from early shows opening for
friends Iron & Wine, to playing on The Late Show with David Letterman by July, and being nominated
as one of ten finalists (along with Joanna Newsom, Beirut, Tom Waits, and, the eventual winner,
Cat Power) for the Shortlist Music Prize for that same year. And the record was well-received
critically, with celebratory press in Spin, Entertainment Weekly, NY Times, Harp, Billboard, Pitchfork,
Magnet, NME, Uncut, and a slew of others. Not a bad place to start.
For a lot of reasons, Cease to Begin is the perfect title for this new record. Not only do the
songs themselves weave this theme through the record, but stopping and starting anew is also
a reflection of the past year and a half for Band of Horses. Though they worked with producer
Phil Ek again, as they did on Everything All the Time, much has changed between the fairly
recent then and now. There have been band members who have come and gone, including Mat
Brooke, who left the band to pursue other interests and his own band. For core members Ben
Bridwell, Rob Hampton and Creighton Barrett, there has been a move from Seattle, WA to Mt.
Pleasant, SC, a relocation that had been planned for some time so that they could all be closer
to their families. And, close friends and family have come and gone some far too early. Necessarily
shot through with these experiences, the songs on Cease to Begin are strikingly beautiful, if less
elliptical and more straightforward, with more sophisticated arrangements than the last record.

Track Listing

1. Is There a Ghost
2. Ode To LRC
3. No Ones Gonna Love You
4. Detlef Schrempf
5. The General Specific
6. Lam On the Lam (In the City)
7. Islands On the Coast
8. Marry Song
9. Cigarettes, Wedding Bands
10. Window Blues

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #397 in Music
• Released on: 2007-10-09
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Band of Horses now rest in the hands of South Carolina tenant Ben Bridwell following the departure of his right-hand man Mat Brooke, who bolted to form Grand Archives following the 2006 inauguration Everything All the Time, and the impassioned Bridwell validates out of the blocks, leading off the follow-up album with "Is There a Ghost," an exquisite chunk of pure-pop bliss. With a voice that lands somewhere between the euphoria of Brian Wilson and the anguish of the late Chris Bell (Big Star), Bridwell (and core mates Rob Hampton and Creighton Barrett) appears a modern archetype behind a playlist that teeters among tender ("No One's Gonna Love Me," "Window Blues"), twang ("Marry Song," "Detlef Schrempf"), and turbulent ("Cigarettes, Wedding Bands," the aforementioned "Is There a Ghost"). Using the same producer and regal m.o. as on the debut, Cease punctuates its magnitude among Sub Pop's top-drawer power elite (The Shins and Iron & Wine), asserting this Band of Horses' fast-rising run for the roses. --Scott Holter

Customer Reviews

Best band you've never heard of!
I found this band listening to Sirius Ch 18 The Spectrum and heard No One's Gonna Love You. I listen to so much music it's a complete thrill to come across a band you've never heard of. The song was awesome. I took a leap and bought the CD and was transported back nearly 20 years to when you got a cassette full of really great songs and could listen to the first song on side 1 and continue all the way through the last song on side 2. Great CD by a great band. Can't wait to listen to what they have planned next!

Not the greatest, but still great
I enjoyed the album, I didn't hear anything as good as 'The Funeral' off the first album, but it's a toe-tapper for sure.

Yep, you can hear the REO influence......
A very strong original band, this CD is perhaps their shinning hour....as one reviewer mentioned regarding REO Speedwagon, it's true moreso on this CD that you can hear bits of the influence, and it works brilliantly with the band's sound. You should also check out the new Poi Dog Pondering '7' CD.........