Normally bands grow and develop with their sound, constantly improving and maturing but not without few slips along the way. However, usually the band in question will bounce back from that weak album/single and rock the shit out of the next one, understanding where they went wrong. Band of Horses seem to not favour this whole growth and development thing and instead of making an album that solidified their musical talent, and to make up for (the piece of shit) 2010’s Infinite Arms, they made this. Everything seems half hearted and honestly, boring as hell. “Slow Cruel Hands of Time” puts you to sleep instead of rousing any sort of emotion and “Dumpster World” just bums you out while confusing the shit out of you simultaneously. The vocals are repetitive throughout the album, to the point of a flaw and at times everything comes off as a little half-assed (see “Shut-in Tourist”). The handful of highlights cannot save the rest of this album from disaster, and as a result it falls flat. (Brown Records/Columbia, brownrecords.com/) Scott Wolfe