WARNING - No chronological relevance here whatsoever, their last release was a few years ago.
Take the first album for example, Everything All The Time. We're talking inoffensive, simply orchestrated soft rock. Instrumentally, expect little else except reverb-smothered clean guitars (bordering on the crunchy in places), atmospherically down-paced rock drums with cymbals galore and flat, characteristically supplemental (nearing the inaudible) basslines. Oh wait I just heard a piano... Anyway, this uncomplicated but effective base layer serves perfectly to springboard
the only thing about their sound that really stands out: the vocals. Frontman Ben Bridwell's baby-voiced warbling is definitely the selling point for the band. His soft consonants and charmingly bizarre accent when delivering words like 'funeral' ('fyoonairawl!') are projected across your ears with a hefty encasing of soaring reverb, completing their idiosyncratically innocent-yet-big sound, one that never quite manages to be annoying. Their gentle but oddly haunting melodies - despite sounding very similar across the entirety of the first album - complete their easy-on-the-ears mushy formula.
However, many people (especially that penis-carrying brand), myself included, might be tempted to instantly dismiss their effeminate wailing as pure premature ejaculation material. They really don't help themselves here, the lyrics in the outro of 'Ode To LRC' for example are completely comprised of 'The world is such a wonderful place/The world is such a wonderful place/Lah di dah/Lah dah di dah dah' - no, I'm genuinely serious. But at the end of the day, is there really anything wrong with that? We don't always need to hear Thom Yorke mumbling about cannibalism and Canary Wharf, or Justin Vernon spouting (albeit beautiful) poetic drivel about moons and wombs. What this kind of music does is appeal to that part of (almost) everyone that remains impenetrable to the complexities of life, where songs about settling down with a wife (Marry Song), and songs about funerals (The Funeral) - with nothing profound to say about either i might add - do touch the heartstrings. We (I) might feel embarrassed about it, but at the end of the day it's Band Of Horses and mush like it that calm the soul and warm the heart.
Having said that, Band Of Horses are touring with Snow Patrol. So, if you feel like sticking to the 'mush is shit' philosophy, I can't blame you.
If you're still interested though, here (as well as the links given above) are their best:
No One's Gonna Love You - Single off their second album, and what attracted me to them in the first place. Characteristic of the more ambitious and diverse production of the album (in opposition to the static sound of the first), its gentle combination of clean guitar and flute-like keyboard, coupled with a more complex vocal reverb, set a more distinctive background for more charming and cutesy vocals: 'anything to make you smile, you are the ever-living ghost of what once was...And no one's ever gonna love you more than I do'. Yup, it's pretty fucking mushy right? The melodies keep it undefeatable.
Weed Party - Less ambitious but much more upbeat track off the first album. Harmlessly indie crunchy guitar riffs and drums cue yet more classic Bridwell vocals, complete with that down-the-scale melody at the end of a line.
Cigarettes, Wedding Bands - Rarely bitter-sounding track off the second album. 'The house is not the same since you left it that day...our parents held cigarettes, wedding bands while they lie tonight'
The First Song - And another off the first album, this one essentially serving as a template for the whole record. Except for the unbeatable The Funeral (see above), expect nothing too different from this track.
