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Fleet Foxes | 
 enlarge | Artist: Fleet Foxes
Label: Sub Pop
Category: Music
List Price: $13.98
Buy New: $9.15
You Save: $4.83 (35%)
New (43) Used (10) from $9.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  73 reviews
Sales Rank: 132
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 5 x 0.3
MPN: 70777
UPC: 098787077728
EAN: 0098787077728
Release Date: June 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Great CD, it is brand new, no marks, cuts, etc. Same as you would buy locally.
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| Tracks:
| • | Sun it Rises | | • | White Winter Hymnal | | • | Ragged Wood | | • | Tiger Mountain Peasant Song | | • | Quiet Houses | | • | He Doesn't Know Why | | • | Heard Them Stirring | | • | Your Protector | | • | Meadowlarks | | • | Blue Ridge Mountains | | • | Oliver James |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk
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
Product Description
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.
Album Description
2008 album from this Seattle based quintet. Fleet Foxes are, for lack of an imminently more marketable descriptor, a group trafficking in baroque harmonic pop. And the joy they derive in doing so is palpable. We feel it too. They are, self-described, not much of a rock band. With the help of credit cards, minimum wages, tip money, friends and family, Fleet Foxes crafted their first demo, and subsequently the Sun Giant EP and this debut full-length album, with family friend Phil Ek manning the rudder. Drawing influence from the traditions of folk music, pop, choral music and gospel, sacred harp singing, West Coast music, traditional music from Ireland to Japan, film scores, and their NW peers, Fleet Foxes ranges in subject matter from the natural world and familial bonds to bygone loves and stone cold graves.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 68 more reviews...
 Hold me dear, into the night June 4, 2008
33 out of 35 found this review helpful
The Fleet Foxes are a rock band that sounds like no other -- imagine a pastoral choir overwhelming a sweeping folk-rock band, in the middle of a sunlit forest in the spring.
That's about the sound of the Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut album -- it's a stream of lush, jangly folk pop, edged with a touch of baroque and country-rock. While their "Sun Giant" EP was an excellent introduction, it's nothing compared to the rough-edged grandeur of the full-length album, with its glorious instrumentation and vivid lyricism.
The only really offputting part of the album is the opening five seconds, when an off-key chorale sings, "Reeeeed squirrel in the morning/Reeeeeeeed squirrel in the evening..."
Then the song suddenly melts into a gentle acoustic guitar shimmering with keyboard. "The sun rises, over my head/Hold me dear, into the night/Sun it will rise soon in the morn..." Robin Pecknold sings with all the solemnity of a choirboy. His voice soars over the steelier riffs and thumping drums, only to settle down with, "The sun rising, dangling there/Golden and fair, in the sky..."
Wow. When an intro is that lovely, just imagine what the songs that follow are going to be like.
In this case, it's the shifting folky "White Winter Hymnal," with its kettle drums and beautiful campfire harmonies ("I was following... I was following... I was following the pack/all swallowed in their coats/with scarves of red tied 'round their throats"), followed by the endearingly energetic rocker "Ragged Wood" ("You should come back home/back on your own now!").
It gets no less endearing after that: Gentle bluesy ballads, jangly folk-pop with lots of squiggly mellotron, sweeping pop chorales, bouncy countryish rockers with lots of intertwined guitars. Things get quieter near the end -- "Fleet Foxes" ends with a trio of lower-key, folkier ballads, sometimes with nothing more than Pecknold's voice and a guitar.
There's something very warm and welcoming about the Fleet Foxes' music, and there's hardly a song on their self-titled album that doesn't contain that sunniness. And though the bittersweet songs focus on the usual topics -- family, love, lost friends -- there's a strong feeling of pastoral beauty, especially since they're sprinkled with meadowlarks, wood-women, "quivering forests," Tennessee and grassy graves.
In fact, the lyrics are crammed with vivid ("And, Michael, you would fall/and turn the white snow red as strawberries") and striking language ("I hold a cornucopia and a golden crown"). At times, the band's lyrics are pure poetry ("Wanderers this morning came by/Where did they go?/Graceful in the morning light/To banner fair/To follow you softly/In the cold mountain air...").
These songs are wrapped in lush melodies of striking music, which happily swirl together folk, classic earthy rock, pop, baroque and a bit of country. And an coustic guitar is the lead instrument here; sometimes it's all by itself, and sometimes it's intertwined with a smooth mix of other instruments -- hollow drums, rippling mellotron, steely guitar, and a hint of harp being plucked somewhere.
And finally there's Robin Pecknold. He sounds a little off-key in the spare ballads, but in the more complex songs he sounds sweet, strong and truly beautiful, especially when he does that soaring thing. And I have to say, I'm a sucker for the band's sunny chorale sound -- the harmonies really make those melodies sound exquisite.
The Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut is one of the best albums I've heard all year, with its blend of styles and bittersweetly lovely songs. Haunting and truly lovely.
What a delightful hybrid. June 19, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Fleet Foxes, another in the infinite line of contemporary "animal" bands; what a special record! I'm not really well versed enough to see in it comparisons to Wolf Mother or Wolf Parade or Deerhoof or Deerhunter or Grizzly Bear, Panda Bear or Huggy Bear (ok, so that's a blast from the past).
What I do see in it is a reflection of a more distant tradition. There are compositional references, vocal styles, and arrangement nods to those more "baroque pop" 60's Beach Boys records; the epic scope and the lushness and depth of pop complexities of Clube da Esquina an essential 1970's record by Milton Nasciamento and Lo Borges; yet there's also the spaciousness and intimacy of last year's Bon Iver record, For Emma, Forever Ago. Like those references, the music is absolutely listenable and deeply enjoyable and somehow makes you feel like you're enjoying something quite special.
I love it.
Believe the hype... July 9, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
For me, I'm always skeptical about rave reviews, and this album
is getting them across the board. But for once, I'm in total agreement.
There is some definite magic going on with this album (the EP is
it's equal too).
If anyone remembers and digs the late, great band Grant Lee Buffalo
(specifically the Mighty Joe Moon/Fuzzy albums) then get this album
pronto. It's cut from the same rural, pastoral cloth... and has
that similar rustic atmosphere that sucks you in instantly.
I hope these guys don't get burned by the hype, and have a nice long
career ahead of them... I'm looking forward to it!
John
Fleet Foxes July 22, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
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.
Fleet Foxes on vinyl July 29, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you're considering the new Fleet Foxes album, you won't be disappointed. These days I don't love a lot of bands that are out there. I think I find an album or two a year that I really love. Fleet Foxes album and EP though are magnificent. A summer night outside with a glass of wine and this music is magical. "White Winter Hymnal", "Ragged Wood", "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song", "He Doesn't Know Why"... I'm just trying to say the highlights of them album! They're all good tracks.
Anyway, if you're considering the album I recommend getting it on vinyl. You not only get the album on vinyl with a great looking gatefold sleeve, but you ALSO get their Sun Giant EP on vinyl too! Not only that, you also get a certificate to download the mp3's of both the album and the EP!!! Amazing. Thankfully bands like Fleet Foxes and labels like Sub Pop exist.
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