Mirage Rock

(Columbia)

HERE comes album number four from Seattle's Band Of Horses, tasked with building on its Grammy-nominated, critically lauded predecessor, Infinite Arms. Brought in to tilt the odds is Glyn Jones, legendary producer of the likes of The Who, The Rolling Stones and The Eagles. Once we get the mandatory uplifting indie anthem Knock Knock out of the way, this proves a winning combination. Sure, BoH rip off everyone from Tom Petty to CSNY with outrageous impunity, but the songwriting is so consistently strong that you forgive them. There's also plenty of variation, rubbing the likes of the mournful campfire country of Slow Cruel Hands Of Time up against the power pop of A Little Biblical. This goes one step too far on Dumpster World, which spends two minutes as an identikit Horse With No Name before erupting into grinding stoner rock, of all things. But with other highlights like the blue-eyed country boogie of Electric Music and breakneck alt-disco pelter Feud, the pros keep outweighing the cons. This is a pretty marvellous record overall.

Steven Vass