Fleet Foxes’ Fantastic Fur

Fleet Foxes
Photo by Frank Chromewaves

I’ve been meaning to weigh in on Fleet Foxes‘ wonderful self-titled debut, but I wanted to make sure it’d sunken in first, that my ears were fully deep-fried in every drop of gooey harmony. It took a while — great albums will do that. I reviewed the record for Cokemachineglow last week; here’s an excerpt:

From the first notes of “Sun It Rises,” it’s clear that the Foxes are infatuated, rightfully, with their own voices—and the echoes of Laurel Canyon and Inglewood. Like the Beach Boys singing the Crosby, Stills & Nash songbook, tracks such as “White Winter Hymnal” and the delicate “Oliver James” are rooted deep in the Golden State, though the abounding twang betrays a Southern influence. Of course, none of this jives with the band’s Seattle home, but the music’s too rich and real to let questions of locational authenticity get in the way.

The full review is over on the Glow, but you can grab some reverb-soaked MP3s right here, including the Paul Pierce-like Song of the Year contender “Blue Ridge Mountains.”

Fleet Foxes – “White Winter Hymnal”: mp3
Fleet Foxes – “Blue Ridge Mountains”: mp3

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