In this installment of Records You Should Own we will tell you about one of our favorite records – the self-titled album from the Fleet Foxes. This would be the record we would play someone who wanted to hear what indie rock sounded like in the naughts. This record continues to sell as if it were released this month and is discovered by new fans every day. Here is what the critics have said about Fleet Foxes:
Pitchfork gave it the Best New Music pick the week it was released and a huge 9.0 rating. Stephen M. Deusner wrote “For all the album's winding paths and unexpected vistas, Fleet Foxes' harmonies remain the primary draw, and they've written and arranged these songs to showcase their shared vocals.” While describing the closing song “Oliver James”, Deusner explained “The song doesn't shoo you out the door. Instead, Fleet Foxes let you linger for a few more bars, leaning forward to catch (Robin) Pecknold's last syllable as it fades into the air. They don't seem to want the record to end any more than you will.”
Consequence of Sound’s Alex Young captures the sound of Fleet Foxes as “heavy in harmonies and a 60’s song-writing feel that is hard to ignore, and yet the band knows this and talks of this in interviews. Even though the Fleet Foxes record is reflecting of a musical past, it is heavy in a unique style that is their own in today’s new musical world. This being their first full length release I am very impressed with their calming and uplifting sound that is unique to find amongst the heart broken and sarcastic musicians of today. It’s good to know that folk isn’t dead.”
Entertainment Weekly gave it a perfect 100 and writer David Belisle remarked “Seattle’s tourism bureau, take heed! The self-titled debut full-length from Emerald City band Fleet Foxes conjures tantalizing images of sun-soaked mountains (the spacious ”Sun It Rises”) and the serene Pacific (the jangly ”White Winter Hymnal”). Indeed, the Foxes play a fine set of Neil Youngsters on these first two tracks, but they also blaze their own trails once ”Ragged Wood” moseys in on breezy harmonies, transforming the folk rock to beach pop in the pick of a high, tensile guitar string. Hushed and wistful, Foxes evokes the itinerant days of yore…you know, before gas cost four bucks a gallon.”
The record, as it is in print today, includes the follow up EP Sun Giant where they continue in top form resulting in one of their more popular songs “Mykonos”. Fleet Foxes created a masterpiece and you must have this record. Prepare to pull Fleet Foxes off the shelf often.