Band of Beach Boys

I'm currently listening to a promo copy of Band of Horses' followup to their brilliantly anthemic debut, Everything All the Time. I loved that record, and I'm loving this record (Cease to Begin), but fair warning: the two records are nothing alike. Really the only unifying thread is lead singer Ben Bridwell's inimitably nasal, hyper-enunciated vocal stylings. Cease to Begin is a catchy, twangy, mid-tempo affair that goes way soft on the rawk quotient in favor of what might rightfully be called Smoky Mountain daydream pop. The album is nowhere near as loud and lush as Everything, but manages to mine its relative simplicity for several gorgeous little ballads, foremost among them "Marry Song," "Window Blues," and "No One's Gonna Love You". Added bonus: there's also a track called "Detlef Schrempf" that, far as I can tell, has very little to do with basketball. The album hits stores October 9.