So, Fleet Foxes...

I was in the "sounds nice, no songs" camp (I think I said so upthread?), but having the album forced into my ears quite a bit recently I'm beginning to see that there are in fact a few songs in there. At least two! If the whole album's going to grow on me it's really taking its time, though.

the album sounds amazing, and obviously their harmonies are right there. but the songs are really not that good.

I'd take issue with that. At the very least, "White Winter Hymnal", "He Doesn't Know Why" and "Your Protector" I think are very fine purely as songs and melodies. Their entire sound seems to be based on "The Only Living Boy In New York" by Simon and Garfunkel and the singer's voice is quite Lee Maversy.

Wait, that was a Vampire Weekend thread where I was talking about that song? No way. But yeah, I think that lyric is really well-assembled, with loads of craft packed into something that short and simple -- the sounds and internal rhymes, the color scheme, the appearance of the "you" in that turnaround, the way specific things land on specific musical changes, etc. (Even the fact that it starts with that repeating "I was following the," which sounds like some kind of fake-mystical "I was following the eye" until it hops out of the loop and continues into something concrete!)

I dunno, I believe they have three songs that have really stuck with me as great, solid songs; the rest seems, you know, good.

Wait, no, it was on this thread:

New bohemianism: beards, pickling beets, Fleet Foxes, rye...

dude we already went over how there aren't any internal rhymes in that verse

Ok, Shakey, when the words "follow" and "swallow" die, you can show up at their funerals and tell them they didn't rhyme

Sorry n you go to bat for "indie" bands in so many threads I can't keep track. I like that verse though and I like this band a fair amount they are nice to listen to in the winter.

I mean, I don't care if you want to call that part of the rhyme scheme or if you just don't like the verse or whatever, it's remarkably unimportant, but I will be baffled by anyone who denies that there is not some attention to how words feel in the mouth involved in:

- scARRves of RRRed tied RRound their thRRoats

or can't follow what's going on with the S, R, and T sounds in this:

- snow red as strawberries in the summertime

xpost - Max I post to like 2 ILM threads a month, you have me confused with someone else

Ha, pardon me "I will be baffled by anyone who denies that there IS some attention etc."

i was sort of joking since ur two ilm threads were the fleet foxes thread and the vampire weekend thread.....................................

that's called alliteration nabisco.

internal rhyming = following/followed, red/heads, fallin'/fall (leaning heavy on that one), go/snow (2nd iteration, that one too).

um, rhymes that fall at the end of a phrase (go/snow, etc.) are by definition not internal...? The "following/swallowed" one is the only internal rhyme and even that's kinda stretching it since its just the first two syllables in each word that rhyme.

I dunno why I'm even arguing about this, I've never even heard this song I just find the lyrics stupid written down.

I don't like the song, the lyrics or the band, either. But you're pushing way too hard on a narrow, overly limited definition of what internal rhyming is, or can be. Snow/go in the 5th and 6th lines is traditional end rhyming. The repetition of "snow" in the 8th line is internal rhyming that picks up on it. As if any of this matters...

hahaha yeah I'll let it go

lets go back to talking about AC/DC

I don't really agree with the sound vs. songs distinction - I think that the songs are interesting (sometimes interesting for how they meander and fall apart, but still interesting) as much as the sound. Though perhaps when it comes to the lyrics, I would agree with a sound vs. sense distinction. As Nabisco rightly points out, there is a lot of craft going into how the lyrics sound (rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, etc.), though the sense of the words sometimes verges on the hippy-dippy. That doesn't bother me too much though.

Shakey am I tripping or did you seriously just try to tell me that swallowing/followed is better categorized as alliteration?!?!?!

- scARRves of RRRed tied RRound their thRRoats

or can't follow what's going on with the S, R, and T sounds in this:

- snow red as strawberries in the summertime

no I was referring to ^^^this, which is alliteration

I love Blue Ridge Mountains. But then again I love all songs that remind me of "Billie Jean."

nabisco otm about white winter hymnal

Oh, yes, that is alliteration. Not sure why you felt a need to point that out to me, but yes, that is true.

If you really wrap your mouth around it, there's also something nice going on with the sequence of vowel sounds, too, which kind of open up gradually -- ah (scarves), eh (red), ie (tied), ow (round), oh (throats), mostly with the Rs dropping between them.

I think this writing is kind of an, umm, outlier in terms of Fleet Foxes lyrics, though, because as soon as I noticed it I actually started googling around to double-check that they hadn't lifted the lyrics from a poem somewhere; it stuck out to me that way. But listening after that, there's some decent attention to sound in some of the others, too, which ... it seems like a rarity with lyrics.

- scARRves of RRRed tied RRound their thRRoats

or can't follow what's going on with the S, R, and T sounds in this:

- snow red as strawberries in the summertime

no I was referring to ^^^this, which is alliteration

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, December 4, 2008 1:37 PM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark

are performing on SNL??

Blue Ridge Moutain cannot be denied

with rosario dawson :D

seems like an odd fit for the show. i don't like them at all, but trying tbf i don't really see this as being too appealing/fun for anyone not already a fan.

They've already played a couple of the late night shows; this really shouldn't come as a shocka to anyone.

dude, a lot of bands play late night shows. they're something like the sixth indie band ever to play SNL, which is basically the holy grail of late-night shows

by the same token it probably wasn't too appealing/fun for anyone not already a fan of

My Morning Jacket
Vampire Weekend
Wilco
Fiest
Spoon
Arcade Fire
The Shins
Death Cab For Cutie
Modest Mouse (in the halcyon days of 2004)

So, um, yeah, in the past three years indie bands of a certain size have gotten to play SNL. Why you would call them an "odd fit" I don't know.

Their s/t is the best thing to listen to while driving around rural Michigan after a big snowstorm.

I hope you ran over Bon Iver

Wisconsin.

MMJ - appeared on the show to promote evil urges, which debuted at #9 on the charts.
VW - appeared on the show to promote vampire weekend, which debuted at #17 and was everywhere by then (march). certainly comparable to FF in that regard, but i'd argue that VW are easier to like and better suited for such a show
Wilco - appeared after sky blue sky, which debuted at #4, their second top-10 charting album in a row. YHF went gold.
Feist - appeared in support of the reminder, which debuted at #16 and had a song in about every commercial on TV at that point and was up for numerous mainstream awards. cannot seem to find ratings for SNL, but i'd be willing to bet they dipped for this show. could be wrong
Spoon - appeared in support of ga ga ga ga ga, which debuted at #10
Arcade Fire - appeared to promote neon bible which debuted at #2
Shins - appeared to promote wincing the night away, which debuted at #2, not to mention the garden state push
DCFC - appeared to promote plans, which peaked at #4
Modest Mouse - appeared to promote the already-platinum good news for people who like bad news

fleet foxes' self-titled album debuted at #67 in the US. they've been getting a lot of love recently in just about every music publication, but they're easily the most obscure of any of the acts mentioned above, and probably the "weirdest". i'm not saying they shouldnt play the show or that no one is going to enjoy it, i'm just saying that from what i recall there isn't really a precedent for this kind of band, so it caught me by surprise

i don't play this record too much anymore, but when i do i'll try and play it all the way through, because it's somehow never immediately lulls me back in each time i return to it. i like to really establish a rapport with the textures, sounds and moods, and i find this takes some involved listening.

I didn't think I'd like these guys, but you know what, I listened to a few tracks on YouTube tonight and they're not bad, rather pleasant actually, soothing, pastoral.

so many adjectives to describe these guys

and you chose those

by kevink. at 06:35 PM on 01/08/09 Reply
@cookiedough: lol, you're kind missing the point entirely, but w/e.

RHCP
DMB
dashboard confessional (basically any nu-emo)
fleet foxes

:D

the album's doing pretty well plus no one is out promoting anything. you wanna see lady gaga or some shit?

i can't ride for this album but i liked them when i saw them live and im sure this will be pleasant enough

i was being kinda unnecessarily harsh i guess. it's not my thing of course, but like i said, i dont see a bearded dude falsettoing on a chair flying with a lot of the audience.

you know who watches snl regularly? ppl like my parents who are into http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5124YM060WL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

lol, fair. we'll see!

I don't understand -- this band on SNL is the same band that released the Fleet Foxes album (and Sun Giant EP), right? Cause it's like a totally different, not quite as good, band.

omg i forgot today was saturday! fucking packing

lol this is 'fun'

lol their one dude looks like a hairier jeff ross

What the hell is with people sucking on SNL as of late? (Kanye, Taylor Swift, Fleet Foxes...) Are these just bad live performers? Or has something started sucking at the SNL studio?

look at me im awkward lol! arghh i hate this band so much >:|