When they pegged studio legend {|Glyn Johns|} to helm 2012's {|Mirage Rock|}, {|Band of Horses|} underwent a bit of retooling to ignite some latent rock spark while still offering enough mainstream appeal to sustain them at {|Columbia Records|}. Whil... Read more

When they pegged studio legend {|Glyn Johns|} to helm 2012's {|Mirage Rock|}, {|Band of Horses|} underwent a bit of retooling to ignite some latent rock spark while still offering enough mainstream appeal to sustain them at {|Columbia Records|}. While not an overwhelming critical success, the album's easy-riding country-rock vibes were enough to vault it into a significant Top 20 placing on Billboard's pop chart. For their follow-up, 2016's {|Why Are You OK|}, they hand over the keys to a less-proven and more experimentally oriented captain in {|Grandaddy|} frontman {|Jason Lytle|}. Along with this sonic shift comes a new partnership with {|Interscope|} and {|American Recordings|}, offering a change of scenery and a bit of gentle guidance from {|American|} honcho -- and executive producer -- {|Rick Rubin|}. Tonally, {|Why Are You OK|} is a different animal than its predecessor, often placing frontman {|Ben Bridwell|}'s warm exaltations within the pseudo-synthetic context of droning synth layers and effect-laden atmospherica. Album-opener Dull Times/The Moon is a slow-building seven-minute opus whose dreamy space-crawl eventually gives way to a typhoon of heavy, distorted guitars. Gentle synths and the scuffed sound of an old drum machine are threaded throughout the catchy, {|J Mascis|}-aided In a Drawer, building into swirling layers of harmony and textured guitars. There's even a spaced-out {|Lytle|}-penned instrumental that acts as a sort of mid-album interlude. Lyrically, themes of encroaching middle age and the contentment of family life provide much of the album's emotional arc, and while it would be easy to accuse {|Bridwell|} of descending into the musical comfort zone that often gets unfairly labeled as Dad Rock, he's writing from an honest place about the life he's living. Twelve years into their career, {|Band of Horses|} are a recognizable, well-established touring act whom {|Bridwell|} has shepherded from humble Seattle origins to quite respectable heights. Maybe they're not a household name, but by most bands' standards, these guys have made it and standout cuts, like the hooky lead single Casual Party and guitarist {|Tyler Ramsey|}'s breezy Country Teen, are a big part of the reason why. ~ Timothy Monger Less