Fleet Foxes

I’ve been blessed this year in that I’ve had an almost continual stream of new music to capitvate my ears.  At some point, though, I got so backed up in listening to new albums that some simply fell through the cracks.  At the time I’m writing this I still have over thirty five albums in digital format that have never even been unzipped {yeah, I’m a little backed up}.  One band that I seemed to have passed over is Fleet Foxes and there are most likely two reasons for this.  The first has already been explained, the second is a bit, well, counterintuitive.  When something gets super popular on hype or elbows it’s as if my subconscious kicks in and forces me to tune them out.

Fortunately for all of us Fleet Foxes made an album this year that simply cannot be ignored.  Their clever brand of caterwauling* indie folk is intoxicating and mesmerizing throughout the length of their self titled Fleet Foxes (amazon) (itunes).  The more I listen to this album the more I find I love it, and the more I struggle to accurately define it.  There are bits of other sounds located throughout some tracks {think Sufjan Stevens instrumentals mixed with Bon Iver’s vocals – if they were layered through the roof} but what impresses most on this album is the fresh breath of true original talent.

mp3 : Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal
mp3 : Fleet Foxes – Ragged Wood

*Please note I meant caterwauling as a positive almost whimsical adjective, not in the extreme literal sense of the definition.  Also, does anyone who’s heard the album think the closing track, Oliver James, sounds just like something Vampire Weekend would sing?

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