Release Date: September 18th, 2012
Band of Horses has slowly withdrawn into a shadow of themselves. Ben Bridwell’s distant vocals swimming in a deep blue sea of generously laid guitar riffs and assertive waves of cymbal crashes in debut album Everything All the Time is but a distant memory to the Seattle outfit. And with each release—from the disappointingly one-trick pony collection Cease to Begin to the ambient falters of Infinite Arms—Band of Horses has attempted to recover from their blunders, scattering pieces of their musical identity along the way, and ultimately leaving them in a melancholic shell of a band. But everyone loves tales of the underdog overcoming doubt and seizing triumph. Mirage Rock isn’t quite a tragedy, but sure isn’t a comeback.
Band of Horses bursts past the starting line with the sharp delivery of lead single “Knock Knock,” a fantastically squeky clean piece with plenty of pensive “ooh’s” to satisfy any teenage indie-rock wet dream. Dull twinges of The Deserters can be heard in the upbeat vocal delivery and humming guitars. Routine drum fills leave the piece rickety and without any foundation off of which to build a heart single. Throw in the steady delivery of some base handclaps and the recipe for a piece of modern guilt pop is complete.
“Slow Cruel Hands of Time” is the defining track of the album and follows a confining form to which the remainder of the eleven-track release seems to follow. It is an unremarkable testament against the decaying elements of time. Bridwell’s vocals illustrate no real urgency and seem to be too concentrated to be illustrating a believable distress. The track, while attempting to harken back to the delicate nature of previous releases, is flimsy and forgettable. The repeated chant of the title, poetic it may be, becomes preachy and leaves the listener dissatisfied.
“A Little Biblical,” a frigid pop groove, resembles an attempt to squeeze into the idealistic vein of indie rock with plain percussion and an infectious guitar riff. While the song manages to seize attention, it still falls flat amidst a lack of innovation. The track’s lasting impression is reminiscent of the studio mayhem that would ensue if Bad Books had popped a Valium in anger management.
Clash-like guitar riffs meandering from Brit rock to radio-friendly of “Feud” show the band’s potential to emulate the greats with their own coffee shop-fare spin. But the charming melody and delivery is spoiled by overly cutesy slips like “a little birdy told me.” The Seattle quintet taps into a cabin-in-the-woods campfire tune “Everything’s Gonna Be Undone,” a charmingly simple surrender of control with soaring harmonies. The cut is undoubtedly the most candid track on the album, and maybe that’s because it serves as a symbol for the album as a whole. Maybe Band of Horses knows that the dissolution of their indie-rock pipe dream is imminent. Maybe everything is gonna be undone, we just don’t know it yet.
Ben Bridwell’s voice harbors some strength to forge a lasting impression on listeners with his honey-dripped drones on closing track “Heartbreak on the 101.” While his voice meanders into boy-band whines, Bridwell’s attempt at a heavy-hitting thrasher cannot go unnoticed. And with a quivering guitar solo to cap off the snappiest number of the album, Band of Horses don’t quite go out with a bang, but at least it’s a crash.
Mirage Rock is short and quick, leaving no lasting impression from its 40-minute time crunch. There is no unifying theme or real purpose for its creation, which makes it even harder to listen to. Mirage Rock is theatrical in the sense that nothing is as it seems; the entire album is a carefully focused effort engineered toward one goal—to be everything great about indie music today, from the throwback guitar riffs to “more cowbell” folk ditties. Band of Horses is trying to be themselves trying to be the next great American indie band trying not to try to hard. And while it may not sound pretty, it must be the role of a lifetime.
Band of Horses – Mirage Rock tracklist:
- “Knock Knock”
- “How to Live”
- “Slow Cruel Hands of Time”
- “A Little Biblical”
- “Shut-In Tourist”
- “Dumpster World”
- “Electric Music”
- “Everything’s Gonna Be Undone”
- “Feud”
- “Long Vows”
- “Heartbreak on the 101”
