“Can you guys see us?” Ben Bridwell said from somewhere inside a billowing cloud of smoke-machine smoke. “We can’t see you.”

Band of Horses made a hilarious entrance to the Showbox’s stage last night. Rather than a triumphant trot or mysterious sneak, it was a bumbling stumble that got them through the fog and out to their instruments. Modest and self-effacing from the outset, the band charmed the crowd with a hippie-next-door demeanor that was hard to resist.

The band—Bridwell on guitar and vocals, original drummer Creighton Barrett and guitarist Rob Hampton, plus a bassist, second guitarist, and keysman—galloped through a couple numbers, full steam, before Bridwell sat down with a lap steel. The steel guitar lended an almost island feel to the next pair of tunes, and Bridwell’s nasal bark sounded most like Perry Farrell here, forceful and boyish at the same time.

It’s those mid-tempo, sea-shanty-like tunes where the band really shines. Like on “Funeral,” the set’s high point and a true gem of a tune. It offers a slowly building tempo that never really lets loose, even at the end, during a heavy instrumental workout. It’s deliberate, delayed, dramatic, and totally beautiful—the combo that makes the band really stand out.

It was explained to me after the show by a trained pianist that Band of Horses employ a lot of fifth chords in their guitar playing. (Dammit, I wish I knew some music theory.) These fifth chords, I was told, are round, soft, emotional, warm—the exact opposite of the angular and jagged tones of so much indie rock. Whether or not that’s technically correct, those adjectives—warm, round, enveloping—describe Band of Horses’ sound perfectly. What used to be called alt-country is today being referred to as indie Americana by publicists and pundits, and in truth, that’s pretty much what BOH is doing—a la My Morning Jacket and the Avett Brothers. I like it a lot.

(I’ll admit, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to Everything All the Time, being totally caught up on Z by My Morning Jacket. I’ll definitely be there for Band of Horses’ next one.)

They pulled out a pair of new tunes, the last one a snappy, honky-tonk barroom rag, catchy as hell. It came during the first encore, and I’d bet that’s the first single off the new album, which Bridwell said was just finished a week or so ago here in Seattle with Phil Ek, who was manning the sound board at the Showbox. After that tune—with a kicking piano breakdown in the middle—most of the crowd left, and the band did too. Then they came out for a second encore, and the crowd came back, and there was some serious mutual appreciation going on. They might not be hometown boys anymore, but Band of Horses will always get a locals’ welcome when they play Seattle.