The Norwich group's second album in two years combines rock classicism with indie idiosyncrasy.
Photo: Katy J Barlow | Words: Lloyd Bolton
'All The Right Weaknesses', Brown Horse's second album in as many years, is a burning delight, defined by the band's freewheeling spirit. Guitars shamble and clang beautifully over an Americana rock potful that feels as authentic as its influences from across the Atlantic. A live favourite of those in the know for a number of years now, the Norwich 5-piece really made their name last year with debut album 'Reservoir', which was followed up by headline tours and festival slots, those sun-drenched hazy afternoon shows being the perfect platform for this kind of music. Sharing songwriting duties evenly, the band's songs find an impressive cohesion. That unity is captured wonderfully on this new album, which was recorded as live in the wake of a busy year on the road.
Beyond the elder luminaries of country and rock, we feel the influence of Big Thief, though that was a little stronger on debut album 'Reservoir'. In its rough-edged weirdo charm, we also sense echoes of Pavement and R.E.M., the latter cited as a direct influence on lead single 'Corduroy Couch'. It is the spiritual guidance of Neil Young, however, which comes through most strongly. None of these influences are directly imitated, however, with the band showing an ability to follow their logic and make it their own.
Having studied the roadworn lessons of Neil Young, a most important strand to the whole album is a commitment to the freewheeling lifestyle that may still be reinterpreted for our times. 'Dog Rose' is a highlight of the album, throwing out a scattering of vivid still-life images, drawn from its writer Emma Tovell's travels through the Spanish countryside, which sparkle like rediscovered obsessions. Title track 'All The Right Weaknesses' implies by its name an affinity with the immeasurable qualities that feed the soul but offend the rational and the economically practical, its refrain crystallising that sentiment so sweetly: "Business doing pleasure with you". The album closes in this spirit with 'Far Off Places', its most idiomatically 'country' song, which hoes down in a dialect earned by the preceding ten songs.
Cut fresh off of a year on the road and sounding like it, 'All The Right Weaknesses' is a charming followup to 2024's 'Reservoir', leaning further into the sunburn rock sound that works so well at Brown Horse's live shows. The classicism of their sound is juxtaposed by lyrics full of individuality, making for a winning patchwork celebrating the things that come free.
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