release date: Mar. 21, 2006
format: cd ( SPCD 690)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,06]
producer: Phil Ek
label: Sub Pop Records - nationality: USA
Track highlights:
1. "The First Song" (4,5 / 5) -
2. "Wicked Gil" -
3. "Our Swords" -
4. "The Funeral" (4 / 5) -
6. "The Great Salt Lake" (4,5 / 5) (live on Letterman) -
7. "Weed Party" (acoustic live) -
10. "St. Augustine"
Studio album debut by Seattle-based indie folk quintet Band of Horses. The band was originally formed as a trio consisting of lead vocalist & guitarist Ben [Benjamin] Bridwell, bassist Chris Early and drummer Tim Meinig. Later it was expanded to a quartet with vocalist & guitarist Mat Brooke, who had been band leader in Carissa's Wierd, where Bridwell had stepped in at a later stage as substitution of a missing drummer and later as bassist, but in this project, Bridwell appears as the band's unofficial leader. Before joining Carissa's Wierd, Bridwell worked on his record label-project Brown Records and without much training he jumped in as the band's drummer on the band's second album You Should Be at Home Here from 2001. He then became staple drummer in the band and also appears on its acclaimed final studio album Songs About Leaving (2002), after which he changed to bass, guitar and backing vocals for the final live album I Before E from 2004.
All songs here are credited the band, but all lyrics (except two songs by Brooke) are written by Bridwell. The album is, however, the only by the band in this line-up, which also includes Carissa Wierd's final drummer Sera Cahoone, who appears on three tracks but basically just for the album recordings. Shortly after finishing these recordings, both Early and Meinig left the band and for the promotion tour the group reformed in a new line-up with the inclusion of three new members: guitarist & keyboardist Joe Arnone, guitarist & bassist Rob Hampton, and drummer Creighton Barrett but already as of Jul. 2006, also Mat Brooke left the band after which he became co-founder of the Seattle-project Grand Archives.
On this the band's first full-length album, the playlist is made up of several reworks of compositions that had previously been issued on the Band of Horses ep (also titled Tour EP) released, a self-released issue from 2005 sold at concerts, which consisted of three demo takes and three live recordings. Five of those songs appear here in (new) studio versions. The three demo tracks all apear here in re-arranged versions with new titles - "Savannah Part One" is here shortened to "Part One", "The Snow Fall" is here titled "The First Song", and "For Wicked Gil" is here titled "Wicked Gil". Two of the three live recordings appear here in studio versions - "The Great Salt Lake", which has kept its title intact, and "Billion Day Funeral", which here is simply titled "Funeral".
Stylewise, Band of Horses play an uptempo, simple yet modernised folk rock and indie rock with an obvious love for harmony-driven Neil Young classics, but without the sligtest sensation of plagiarism. They have, however, been associated with acts like R.E.M., Slowdive, The Shins and others, as well as been accused of not being original enough. Fact is, you don't have to be an original to make great music. All great stars have copied and "stolen" inspiration from others, and that's what Band of Horses do so well on Everything All the Time. The single songs all sound highly original in their own rights and the whole album showcases a long list of stylistic variations but the magic enters as it all combined becomes one whole that only soothes: Band of Horses. There's no copy, only the original.
Highly recommended.
