2008 Woodie Awards
'Fleet Foxes'
3/5 stars
John Kendall
Issue date: 7/29/08 Section: Music Reviews
Think Band of Horses if they secluded themselves to cabin deep in the woods. Think Grizzly Bear but less obscure, or how about the Beach Boys but instead of surfing or chasing girls they're climbing mountains and growing beards. Somewhere in there are Fleet Foxes. They're a five-piece band out of Seattle and their full-length debut, out on Sub Pop, is simply titled Fleet Foxes.
The band uses swarms of beautiful vocal harmonies, tribal drums, and an armada of guitars to create songs perfect for campfires (not necessarily campfire sing-a-longs though).
Rather than conventional song patterns, like using verses and choruses, Fleet Foxes often opt more for a non-traditional arc in their songs, more like that of a story. They have a beginning, middle, and end (in some songs two endings).
Songs like "Sun It Rises" and "White Winter Hymnal" end where they start, but not without taking you somewhere in between. "White Winter Hymnal" starts with a vocal round that slowly pulls in harmonies and erupts with a resounding triumph of sound and back to a lulling ending as if taking you through each season and back.
The album is beautiful and calming but at times it is also dark and haunting. The thunderous drums, like dropping boulders, of "He Doesn't Know Why" perfectly marry lead singer Robin Pecknold's echoic voice as he sings "There's nothing I can do."
"Oliver James" ends the album and features just Pecknold and guitar. The song is reminiscent of old Cat Stevens and ends the album just how it begins, with a lone vocal chant like a wolf (or a fox, I suppose) howling at the moon.
The band uses swarms of beautiful vocal harmonies, tribal drums, and an armada of guitars to create songs perfect for campfires (not necessarily campfire sing-a-longs though).
Rather than conventional song patterns, like using verses and choruses, Fleet Foxes often opt more for a non-traditional arc in their songs, more like that of a story. They have a beginning, middle, and end (in some songs two endings).
Songs like "Sun It Rises" and "White Winter Hymnal" end where they start, but not without taking you somewhere in between. "White Winter Hymnal" starts with a vocal round that slowly pulls in harmonies and erupts with a resounding triumph of sound and back to a lulling ending as if taking you through each season and back.
The album is beautiful and calming but at times it is also dark and haunting. The thunderous drums, like dropping boulders, of "He Doesn't Know Why" perfectly marry lead singer Robin Pecknold's echoic voice as he sings "There's nothing I can do."
"Oliver James" ends the album and features just Pecknold and guitar. The song is reminiscent of old Cat Stevens and ends the album just how it begins, with a lone vocal chant like a wolf (or a fox, I suppose) howling at the moon.
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