Album: Band of Horses, Infinite Arms (Columbia)

Band Of Horses' singer, Ben Bridwell, has the kind of pure, vulnerable high voice that has been standard issue for American indie bands since Neil Young first paved the way for the likes of Mercury Rev, Flaming Lips, Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver.

It's not the only thing here borrowed from Young: the blend of comforting country harmonies and plangent guitars used throughout Infinite Arms was best validated by him, while the loping boogie "Compliments" even features a monotonal guitar break akin to that on "Cinnamon Girl". But Bridwell lacks Young's bite, with the ponderous would-be epiphanies of tracks like "Laredo", "Factory" and "Compliments" let down by the bet-hedging lyrics. "Infinite Arms" has a crepuscular charm, but elsewhere the line between languid and enervated is perilously blurred.

DOWNLOAD THIS Factory; Compliments; Infinite Arms