Band Of Horses - Mirage Rock
Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 5:13PM
Band of Horses -- "A ramshackle crew has something to prove" sings Ben Bridwell in "Knock Knock", the lead track (with telling lyrics) from the eagerly anticipated fourth studio album from Band of Horses and successor to 2010's groundbreaking Infinite Arms...legendary studio vet Glyn Johns (Eric Clapton, The Who, Led Zeppelin) produced the mostly live-in-the-studio project with minimal overdubs // Release: Mirage Rock (September 18, Columbia) // Sounds like: a veritable hodgepodge of styles and moods that sounds perfectly natural, from speaker-rattling rock n' roll ("Feud") to California fuzz-tinged retro riffs ("How To Live") to spiraling folk/rock strumming ("Shut In Tourist") ...this is music big enough to be played on a grand, arena-sized stage while still connecting on the most intimate and personal level...
Quote: "If Infinite Arms was our beloved pet that we possibly spoiled rotten and stuffed full of too many "treats," then Mirage Rock would be his surprise little brother left on our doorstep. Maybe a bit rougher around the edges, but the same wily, feral bloodline." - Ben Bridwell // What we like: some may quibble with BoH's more calculated strategy this time around a move that perhaps came about in anticipation (and possible intimidation) of working with Glyn Johs (and the "big follow up" pressure) -- but there's enough here to sink your teeth into and satisfy even if you may long for Infinite Arms' dark mystery and lyrical mastery..."Slow Cruel Hands of Time" is both a 70's mellow rock throwback that simply wins you over with its lack of irony and simple, earnest charms...
Band of Horses - "Slow Cruel Hand of Time" (from Mirage Rock)
Band of Horses - "Shut-In Tourist" (from Mirage Rock)
Way back in 2010 I opened my mouth to say that Infinite Arms felt to me like it was the first Band of Horses record. I was trying to imply that I finally had the band I'd always dreamt of, that the album was a celebratory debut of this unit. Or was I joking? That's the thing: I've finally become comfortable enough in this band that sometimes I don't even know when I'm joking.
To me, Band of Horses has always been a study in contradictions. Not just high / low or dark / light. I'm talking absolute piss-taking jokes that no one will ever get vs. serious as a heart-attack paranoia or wallowing sadness.
Where does that leave us to go now? If Infinite Arms was our beloved pet that we possibly spoiled rotten and stuffed full of too many "treats," then Mirage Rock would be his surprise little brother left on our doorstep. Maybe a bit rougher around the edges, but the same wily, feral bloodline.
Mirage Rock was more fun and easier to make than any record I've ever played on. For much of that, I can't give enough credit to Creighton Barrett, Ryan Monroe, Bill Reynolds and Tyler Ramsey. In the five or so years that this line-up has been writing, recording and solidifying as a live powerhouse and second family, we've all learned how crucial collaboration is to our formula, and that no one person's idea is more important than another's.
Then there's the guy who created the environment that enabled us to have the most fun ever had making a Band of Horses record: Glyn Johns. As fate would have it, Glyn was finishing up--or had just finished, I really don't know--an album for one of our manager's other clients, heard some of our primal demos for this record, and before we knew it he was part of the process: at the controls, on the tape machine, and in the producer's chair. It was a natural fit: Given how much Glyn's fingerprints were all over the parents' record collections we grew up on, it's not hard to imagine how Glyn influenced so much of not only our tastes and musical voices and personalities, but Rock n Roll as we know it: The Stones, The Beatles, The Who, The Small Faces, The Clash, Clapton... Glyn is part of the fabric of this music and it's all been part of us since childhood.
So of course we wanted to bring some Rock n Roll to Glyn Johns. If not just to prove that we could record an album with everyone playing at the same time in the same room with minimal overdubs, then to just to see if we could make the old man boogie a bit and get into his wheelhouse. What we ended up with in the end is an album that visits many of the textures that I feel we work best with--and also the opportunity to challenge ourselves with a few new ones. The larger sound of the arena-baiting "Knock Knock" and the sloppy dirge of "Feud" may remind the listener of an earlier Horses. The straight-forward honesty of "How to Live" and "Everything's Gonna Be Undone" may conjure a longtime listener's favorite Horses concert memory. And the sincere "Slow Cruel Hands of Time" hopefully pulls every one of you into a story in which you're the main character.
And as with all great experiences, Mirage Rock left us with some questions too: Is "Dumpster World" a joke? Is "Heartbreak On The 101" the saddest song we've ever recorded? Is it even meant to be sad?
Really, I'm asking you. I can't even tell what number album this is for Band of Horses.
Godspeed,
Ben Bridwell
Reader Comments (1)
The new album is awesome! I love how they have the whole album streaming for free on their website. Been glued to my computer all day with mirage rock on repeat!