I must admit that there are many indie artists and bands that fly under my radar for months after they’ve received the so-called “blogger buzz”. This is no more so the case than with the Washington state band The Fleet Foxes.
Drawing strongly off influences from The Beach Boys, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Young and The Zombies, The Fleet Foxes are one of the most exciting new indie bands of 2008.
Fleet Foxes’ debut, self-titled album is nothing less than a masterpiece woven with carefully-crafted songs about longing and lost love lavishly laden with pop harmonies and melodies.
“They are, for lack of an imminently more marketable descriptor, a group trafficking in baroque harmonic pop,” the band’s profile on Sub Pop reads, highlighting “traditions of folk music, pop, choral music and gospel, sacred harp singing, West Coast music, traditional music from Ireland to Japan, film scores.”
Heather Phares wrote in the All Music Guide: “[Fleet Foxes] mix and match British and American folk and rock from the far and not too distant past that makes the band’s music so refreshing.
While this mix could be contrived or indulgent, Fleet Foxes use restraint, structuring their flourishes into three- and four-minute pop songs full of chiming melodies and harmonies that sound like they’ve been summoned from centuries of traditional songs and are full of vivid, universal imagery: mountains, birds, family, death. “
The band comprises Skyler Skjelset on guitar, Bryn Lumsden on bass, Nicholas Peterson on drums, and Casey Wescott on keyboards. Following some solid shows in Seattle, the band was was contacted by producer Phil Ek, who produced The Shins and Built to Spill.
Ek produced the bands spring 2008 EP release, Sun Giant, and the band’s debut full-length album for Sub Pop Records.
MP3: “White Winter Hymna” by The Fleet Foxes off the self-titled album on Sub Pop Records, released in June 2008.
Sub Pop also has in its lineup of artists many great indie bands and artists like Grand Archives, Iron & Wine, Foals, The Go! Team, Bands of Horses, The Postal Service, Sleater-Kinney, CSS, Mudhoney, The Rapture, Wolf Parade, Low, Rogue Wave and dozens more.
Seattle is etched in rock history as the birthplace of alternative rock, most especially in respect to “grunge” – a musical genre that captivated a generation for half of a decade thanks in large part to the explosive success of Nirvana.
For the baby boom generation, The Beatles were band that defined a generation. For the mislabeled “Generation X” there is no other band that can compare to the enormous influence and success of The Beatles except for Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.
But in recent years, the caffeinated city of Seattle, has been the breeding ground for new, more mellow indie rock and pop that draws heavily off musical trends established during the baby boomers heydays. The Fleet Foxes definitely appeal to a wide audience because of their amazing range in styles and sounds and introspective lyrics.
Upcoming Fleet Foxes shows from their 2008 concert tour:
Thursday, June 26 – Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco CA
Friday, June 27 – Casbah, San Diego CA
Saturday, June 28 – Echo, Los Angeles CA
Sunday, June 29 – Spaceland, Los Angeles CA
Monday, June 30 – Solar Culture, Tucson AZ
Wednesday, July 2 – Mohawk, Austin TX
Thursday, July 3 – Loft, Dallas TX
Saturday, July 5 – Drunken Unicorn, Atlanta GA
Sunday, July 6 – Local 506, Chapel Hill NC
Monday, July 7 – Black Cat, Washington DC
Tuesday, July 8 – First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia PA
Wednesday, July 9 – Bowery Ballroom, The, New York City NY
Monday, July 14 – Middle East, Cambridge MA upstairs
Tuesday, July 15 – Le Divan Orange, Montreal Canada
Friday, July 18 – Terrace, Madison WI
Saturday, July 19 – Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago IL
Sunday, July 20 – 7th St Entry, Minneapolis MN
Tuesday, July 22 – Hi-Dive, Denver CO
Wednesday, July 23 – Kilby Court, Salt Lake City UT
Friday, July 25 – Doug Fir Lounge, Portland OR
View the MySpace page for The Fleet Foxes and listen to their studio session on National Public Radio.