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Last year’s “Everything All the Time” was one of the best straight-up indie-rock records heard in a long time, easily the best of its kind from 2006, an accomplishment that put Sub Pop artists Band of Horses on world radar as it drew inevitable comparisons to My Morning Jacket, but also attention to leader Ben Bridwell and crew’s gift for crafting anthemic hooks and emotive, but never over-the-top, lyrical tomes. “Cease to Begin,” again on Sub Pop, is the band’s newest record, and finds the group shifting away from the rock and leaning more toward the alt-country, which makes sense, given the change of scenery (the band relocated from Washington state to South Carolina). The result? Solid, but ultimately less powerful and cohesive than “Everything All the Time.” At some moments, it meanders a bit in melodramatic melancholy, and at others, it’s exquisite, like on “No One’s Gonna Love You” and the charmingly titled “Detlef Schrempf” (perhaps the best song ever named after an obscure NBA player). Blended with the “Everything All the Time” material, however, this should be a show of gorgeous peaks and valleys. (Tom Lynch)
Sunday, November 11 at Metro
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