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Seattle's Fleet Foxes traffic in baroque harmonic pop. They draw influences from the traditions of folk, pop, choral, gospel, sacred harp singing, West Coast music, traditional music from Ireland to Japan, film scores, and their NW peers. The subject matter ranges from the natural world and familial bonds to bygone loves and stone cold graves.
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It's now twenty years since grunge emerged from then culturally isolated Seattle and Fleet Foxes, the eponymous debut album from the city's latest heroes, demonstrates just how much American independent rock has mutated in that time. The five young members of Fleet Foxes make up a very different sort of rock band, describing their own music as "baroque harmonic pop jams". Even that understates the depths of the quintet's effortless vocal harmonies and gently woozy, folky feel. Of their contemporaries only the enigmatic Midlake and My Morning Jacket at their most fragile come close, but neither could have cooked up the Beach Boys spiritual of "White Winter Hymnal" or its more powerful companion piece "Ragged Wood". In fact Fleet Foxes happily admit to aspiring to an earlier tradition--not just obvious antecedents like the Byrds, the Association, Neil Young and, especially, David Crosby's famously unfocussed solo album If Only I Could Remember My Name but ancient English folk songs and their later American descendents. All were hunted and gathered from the internet--songwriters Robin Pecknold and Skye Skjelset are barely in their twenties. Add a host of unlikely instruments and the results are stunning, the complete antithesis of mainstream stadium indie that has followed Arcade Fire. Still, the cover features a Bruegel painting of peasants that might have graced any Black Sabbath sleeve. In that way at least Fleet Foxes salute a local tradition. -—Steve Jelbert
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Breughel, beards and beauty
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Fleet Foxes are the once and future kings of the currently thriving "bearded indie folk" music scene (along with the likes of Iron & Wine, Bon Iver and Sea Wolf), and there's a good reason for that. In addition to the heaps of accolades from indie music gatekeepers like Pitchfork (who picked this record and its prequel EP "Sun Giant" as the best of 2008),there's the music itself - at once timeless and thoroughly contemporary. Rare is the band that can deliver compositions which seem to have been dredged up from some lost archive of American musical history (the classic example being the debut record from The Band), but the songs on this record could as easily have come from 1800s Appalachia as from Seattle in the 2000's.
Shimmering, echoey harmonies combined with delicately eclectic instrumentation, and lyrical imagery that conjures up everything from Edward Gorey illustrations ("White Winter Hymnal" with its line about "following the pack all swallowed in their coats/ with scarves of red tied round their throats/ to keep their little heads/ from falling in the snow...") to sun-drenched California beaches. That's Fleet Foxes - easily one of the most accomplished and beautiful releases of the past year.
Rating: 
(5
out of 5) @ 2009-01-08
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Beautiful
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Beautiful haunting songs from an Appalachia in some alternate universe. I've been listening to this for a few weeks now and it's still growing on me.
Rating: 
(4
out of 5) @ 2009-01-08
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Spiritual Connection to the Earth
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This is one of the most original albums I've heard over the last several years. Earthy folk ballads suffused with choir sound gives this album an Edenic feel. Many tracks sound like lush soundtracks accompanying a sojourn through green shimmering glades. But this music is not precious. It's earthy and feels authentic and never pretentious.
I don't read a lot of music reviews, but I have to assume Fleet Foxes have been compared to a band with a similar sensibility and sound--My Morning Jacket.
Those who like the Fleet Foxes might look to these bands: Rosebuds, Midlake, Marjorie Fair, and the Innocence Mission.
Rating:
(5
out of 5) @ 2009-01-03
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Gets old really quick
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So I was very excited to get this album. Previewing the tracks and reading all the great reviews it had to be a winner. But after listening through the album only a couple times I'm already tired of it. I have to say they did a great job but it's an album that you listen to every once in a while for me.
Rating: 
(3
out of 5) @ 2008-12-31
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Astounding harmonies!
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This young band is wonderful. I've listened to this CD twice and it just keeps getting better time I listen to it.
Rating:
(5
out of 5) @ 2008-12-31
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