Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
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Free Music Notes for Fleet Foxes
Free Music Review: "Oliver James washed in the rain no longer."
Hit: 5 Stars
Fleet Foxes' debut full length album is a pleasant, folksy good time. It doesn't really reach the heights that some more intense bands do, but the combination of good acoustic guitar work, alternately catchy and haunting vocal harmonies, and unique song structures make for a record really worth listening too. The hippie-looking Robin Pecknold is probably the band's driving force, writing all the lyrics and taking charge with the vocals, but you get the feeling they just like playing together as a group and working together to create one memorable sound. I had heard that this album was one of the year's best indie releases, and decided to check the video for "White Winter Hymnal" on Youtube. I was a bit surprised by what I was hearing, because it doesn't sound like something from this year at all, but still captivated by it, and I shortly found out that this same thought carried throughout each of the tracks.
From the near prog-like constant shift in pace of "Sun it Rises" to the solitary howling at the end of "Oliver James", every song does something unique while still fitting the band's central feeling. I almost feel like I've heard some of these before, and I'm sure that's partly because it's hard to come up with unique music these days, but that quality of familiarity is part of its appeal to me. It's hard to really describe what makes each song good, because it's never a single hook or element, it's always the sum of the parts. Some favorites are "Ragged Wood", "Quite Houses", "Your Protector", and "Blue Ridge Mountains". It's really one of those albums that has to be listened to as one experience and not a bunch of disparate tracks to throw on your iPod's shuffle. Although "White Winter Hymnal" is still pretty awesome by itself.
Free Music Review: Fleet Foxes
Hit: 5 Stars
These guys are the indie darlings of the blogosphere right now, and truth be told, they deserve just about every damn bit of the praise being heaped upon them.
Hailing from the city that birthed Hendrix and Nirvana, it is a stunning accomplishment that Fleet Foxes have crafted a debut that recalls vintage CSNY, sun soaked Beach Boy harmonies, late 60's psychedelic pop, and even Appalachian Folk....and yet they manage to transcend a gratuitious homage to any of them.
If their lyrics, song titles, and 16th century Renaissance cover art are any indication, this is a band that revels in bucolic and pastoral settings, say in a meadow just beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains. Off the 11 tracks on this 40 minute LP, 6 of them have them titles that read more like Wordsworth poetry than what you'd expect from a band on the Sub Pop label.
But no matter. Four part harmonies are flawlessly executed, melodies soar amongst the reverb, and the instrumental performance shimmers in the glow of jangly pop tunes. Neil Young, Jim James, and Brian Wilson are all smiling proudly.
Standout tracks like "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song", "Heard Them Stirring", and "Oliver James" are all fine examples of top notch songcraft. If experience holds any weight here, these guys will be playing circles around other bands by their next release. Hopefully, they'll stick to current instrumentation though, and avoid going the way of the shaum and hurdy-gurdy.
Free Music Review: Fleet Foxes
Hit: 5 Stars
Fleet Foxes' debut self-titled LP is a beautiful, haunting affair of sweeping folk arrangements infused with a gruff, powerful Southern rock presence. The sound of the record is a stunning synthesis of the rock and roll of Band of Horses paired with the spacious production and arrangements of Panda Bear's Person Pitch. The album's opener is a cunning track, lulling the listener into low expectations in the first 20 seconds with a dull country-sounding harmony, only to be blow that listener away with an explosion of varied instrumentation. Opener "Sun It Rises" is followed with "White Winter Hymnal," which starts out with a simple repeated chant that slowly builds to a gorgeous old-western guitar riff.
The vocal harmonies on Fleet Foxes are incredibly compelling and simply beg the listener to learn the words and sing along. I dare say that it would be impossible for someone to listen to this record a few times without feeling the irresistible urge to hum and sing. The album constantly evolves and expands track by track, and though there are a few weak moments, such as the tepid closing track "Oliver James," the music is by and large original, brilliant, and inventive. One of the best new albums of the year thus far, Fleet Foxes takes a simple folk concept and turns it on its head, infusing the simplicity of folk with the creative instrumentation of leading indie bands such as the Decemberists. For indie music fans, Fleet Foxes is a must-listen.
Free Music Review: Simply Amazing!
Hit: 5 Stars
I can't believe a group of guys in their early twenties created such a masterpiece from the starting gate. I got this album on the recommendation of a friend whose tastes I respect and can be quite honest in saying it through me for a loop the first couple of listens. It challenged me in ways I hadn't been challenged in a while and took me a bit of time to sink into it. It does and does not sound like many artists I've heard before which is a testament to a band distilling past influences while creating something completely their own.
I live in Seattle and had really been getting tired of the local scene here. All of the bands were beginning to sound like knock off's of Death Cab For Cutie or The Shins. While both are great bands, we didn't need twenty of them. Fleet Foxes have taken this city by storm and it will be interesting to see whether they can gain traction with the rest of the country. Part of me thinks they won't simply because they have a sound so wildly different than what is currently out there right now.
I would list favorite tracks on the album but it really seems pointless to me. The entire album feels seamless with each song complimenting the previous and next. It truly is a record that is best digested whole, in one sitting. Time will tell if they can build on this amazing debut, however, as young and ambitious as they are, I'm willing to bet they can.
Free Music Review: A black pearl in a sea of costume jewelry.
Hit: 5 Stars
When I first saw these guys perform "White Winter Hymnal" on David Letterman, I was so knocked out by their 3-part harmonies & their folky music style that I had to get this disc immediately.
I've recently been on a CD-buying frenzy...call it an addiction, but what a good addiction to have. My musical tastes are most likely more far-reaching than the average schmoe, so you can probably imagine the size of my CD collection, and the amount of music I have in my iTunes catalog. And I am telling you in utter honesty: This is one CD I keep coming back to time and again. For old hip-eyes like me, this CD, in many ways, is a grand throwback to the glory days of the acoustic troubadors of the late 60's/early 70's. (God, if we could bring those days back...) As such, I firmly believe that Fleet Foxes can and should find audiences with fans of the early Eagles; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Poco; early America; Nick Drake; Don McLean; James Taylor...and their more recent contemporaries, the super-trio The Thorns.
A gorgeous-sounding, multi-talented band with a heart that write songs that will have you joyously singing along with them, grateful that priceless music like this exists today...songs that haunt you deliciously long after they're over. Do not miss out on Fleet Foxes. I can't wait for the chance to see them in concert.