The dangers of love at first sight are common knowledge. We are bewitched by that brooding stranger on the bus, and become infatuated, from a distance, with everything about her. Unwittingly, we conjour up an impression of this girl to comply with our ideal fantasies. And finally after months of anxiety, the opportunity presents itself to talk to her. You get to know her intimately, but soon realise she isn't all that your heart had hoped for. The reality of incompatibility has reared its ugly head, and you are left grovelling back at the feet of loneliness once again.

So my demented hesitation in listening to EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME by BAND OF HORSES for the first time is understandable. The mystery surrounding this band and the underlying hype had, I admit, drawn me in. I liked them for silly reasons, before I really even knew them. I knew they formed in Seattle (tick). I knew they were the product of a band break up (tick). I knew they had beards (tick), I knew the album had a nice cover (tick). I knew they had a dog (a cheap imitation for a horse, perhaps, but a tick anyway). However the real clincher - I knew they were on the SUB POP label, home to possibly my favourite album EVER; OUT OF THE SHADOW by ROGUE WAVE (tick tick tick).
So to me, Band of Horses was like a friend of a good friend I'd only seen in photographs, or a pretty girl I'd see everyday on the bus. It was near impossible to contain my excitement, but I was scared knowing that, with such high expectations, satisfaction would be all the more elusive, yet so sweet. And oh how sweet it was. This brooding stranger DID turn out to be all my heart had hoped for, and I am now very much in love. This is no school boy crush, baby. This is love. True love. And it's gonna take alot to tear us apart.

From Everything All the Time:
Band of Horses - The Funeral
Band of Horses - The Great Salt Lake
buy through sub pop

From Out of the Shadow:
Rogue Wave - Every Moment
Rogue Wave - Endless Shovel
buy through sub pop

The Horse's old band (Band of ponies??):
Carissa's Wierd - You Should Be Hated Here
Carissa's Wierd - September Come Take This Heart Away
Carissa's Wierd - (March 19th 1983) It was probably Green

Sub Pop is what a music label should be, that all others should aspire to. Im now convinced that every sound these orchestral pop specialists find is worth a listen (eg The Murder City Devils, The Brunuettes,The Constantines, Steve Fisk, Hot Hot Heat, Damien Jurado, Iron & Wine, Low, Mudhoney, The Pernice Brothers, Postal Service, The Shins, Kelly Stoltz, Sunny Day Real Estate, Stars, Wolf Parade). And I recommend you take the time to explore more SUB POP bands through their website, which offers a very generous serve of free mp3s.

Labels: Band Of Horses, Carissa's Wierd, Rogue Wave, Tom