THE beardy boys from South Carolina via Seattle produce their most mainstream album yet, hitting harmonies in a way that suggests a blissful union between Neil Young and the Beach Boys.

At times, and certainly with On My Way Back Home, Band Of Horses sound as if they have actually roped in Brian Wilson for a spot of melody making. Factory gets things started with a grand, surging sweep, while the undoubtedly fine Compliments and Laredo move matters along nicely.

This is a surging, tuneful and at times delightful album, with beautiful piano, strings and finely tuned vocal cords. Yet repeated playing undoes some of the loveliness, and leaves the listener wearied with the wall-to-wall lushness of it all, and longing for a sharper or quirkier edge, or a bit of musical dirt. Good tunes for summer, however.