Something Like Sound

The Fleet Foxes are a difficult band to define. They combine the melodic and vocal tendencies of a group like Animal Collective, while using brilliant melodies reminiscent of The Shins or Simon and Garfunkel. The group describes its musical style as “baroque harmonic pop jams,” however, this (likely on purpose) obfuscates their style even more. Regardless of the Seattle quintet’s style of music, it is clear that on their self-titled release the group creates memorable, sometimes haunting songs, which do not need a succinct genre to be enjoyable.

The first thing a listener might notice is the vocal prominence and the slight instrumentation employed by Fleet Foxes. On the first track, “Sun it Rises,” there is almost nothing but shared harmonies and reverberated vocals, with occasional use of guitar solos. This sort of penchant to stress vocally-created harmonies continues throughout the album. “Heard Them Stirring,” the seventh track on the album, does not have lyrics, but almost the entire song is comprised of vocals with a backing drum beat. It is an aesthetically appealing, near-instrumental piece, and one of the most relaxed and tranquil pieces of music produced recently.

Although the songs written are all intriguing, there is not a significant amount of variance between the tracks. Certainly, the melodies are each different and appealing, but the structure of the songs is almost entirely constant. While this is not a problem for many, due to the low-key nature of the album, it may annoy some listeners.

The album, at times, transports the listener to another place, a beautiful place, with fairy-tale-like properties. They sing of rising suns and ragged woods, and the reverberated vocals remind one of a 1940s country singer. Overall, the album, while transformative and relaxing, could use some expansion. The fluidity of each track to each other track is near perfect, and how each track relates to the album as a whole is wonderful.

However, the reason each track relates so well to each other track is that they are extremely – almost too – similar. This, along with the poetically incomprehensible lyrics makes the album far from perfect, but it’s still an extremely enjoyable listen, and one which could easily transcend the era in which it was created, to become a well-known classic.