Reviews of Band of Horses new disc, Infinite Arms, roll in; reaction is mixed

Rounding up more news/reviews regarding the release of the Band of Horses new album, which was mostly recorded at Echo Mountain Studio in Asheville.

From the Charleston City Paper:

Infinite Arms officially arrives on May 18 through a label configuration of Brown/Fat Possum/Columbia. Bridwell and the band funded and produced the album themselves, stepping away from Sub Pop. Bridwell recently resurrected his own indie label Brown Records, but he’s still trying to figure out his role. “The Horses have the help of Fat Possum as well. We were such great friends with Sub Pop, so it was rough leaving them, but this seems like the best configuration.

The first sessions for the 12 new songs on Infinite Arms began at Echo Mountain studio in Asheville, N.C., moved to Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Alabama, and then relocated back to Echo Mountain, where the band brainstormed at a steady but leisurely pace.

Bridwell considers this week’s release to be a coming-out party. “There are several songwriters in the band now,” he says. “For the first time, things were really collaborative in the studio. We really try to utilize those tools now. Of course, with Tyler and Bill on a record for the first time, we have a lot more depth of musicianship and songwriting. I’m more proud of this record for that more than anything. It’s finally not so much of a one-man-show vibe.”

The instrumental style and lyrical tone of Infinite Arms resembles the heavier, more straightforward material of the previous albums, but things seem tighter and more focused. Emboldened with fat drum sounds, dense rhythm guitar textures, and elegant organ sounds, the new songs have a little less of the big-room reverb that soaked the previous recordings.

From the Washington Post:

“Infinite Arms,” Band of Horses’ third album and major label debut, was supposed to be their Big Moment, the album that did for them what “Evil Urges” did for My Morning Jacket: Which is to say, turn them from a beloved indie band into a moderately recognizable crossover success story.

But “Arms” underwhelms. It’s not bad, just drowsy and hook-less and remote, as if the band didn’t perform these songs so much as swat at them idly as they floated by. Band of Horses songs can usually be divided into two types: country-ish folk songs that suggest a less jammy and psychedelic Built to Spill fronted by Neil Young; and anthemic tracks like “The Funeral,” with the stadium choruses and ringing guitars of a backwoods U2.

The group’s past two discs served up both, in almost equal helpings, but “Infinite Arms” focuses on mellow, small-scale songs to exclusion of virtually all else. For every would-be barnburner like “Factory” (which evokes the best moments from the band’s debut, “Everything All the Time”), there are several sound-alike mid-tempo tracks like “Blue Beard” (Beach Boys harmonies, done ’70s style).

From 411mania.com:

Even though Band of Horses has been around for about six years now, it was only maybe six months ago that I even discovered who they were. Their sound isn’t really anything out of the ordinary. It’s your standard folk rock blended with some alt-country blues. What really brings them to the table, I believe, is their emotion. From older songs like “The Funeral” to “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands,” their passion has always managed to bring the goods, and Infinite Arms is no different.