It’s a natural tendency to try to define a group’s sound relative to other bands. This grows tiresome at times, and isn’t always very meaningful, but in rare cases, can be a great deal of fun. This is one of those cases, as it’s been a while since I got to mention Supertramp in a review of an indie rock band. “Ode to LRC” sounds like a mix of My Morning Jacket meets Supertramp, with a nice singsongy ‘the world is such a wonderful place’ chorus, and “No One’s Gonna Love You” is very reminiscent of Flaming Lips. BOH has a lighter side that helps to differentiate them from a lot of their musical peers. There is a lot to be said for any band that names a song after Sonic great (as well as Portland and Indiana, but I’m going to assume they are thinking of Seattle) Detlef Schrempf, as well as song titles such as “The General Specific,” and “Lamb on the Lam.”
“Marry Song” is a keeper, a wonderful sort of poppy Sparklehorse meets the Eagles meets Iron and Wine, meets…and is sweet enough that it is destined to be played at many weddings, without a doubt. All these comparisons must grow old to BOH as they have gotten the My Morning Jacket and Flaming Lips ones before and generally one hopes to be a Trailblazer (sorry, couldn’t resist more Detlef talk) more than a sound alike. Hopefully, throwing a few more widely varied bands into the mix will make it apparent that this is very much a band with its own sound and personality, and it has made a very good record.
--William Carey
