So, Fleet Foxes...

I saw them on SNl. I could hear the English folk-revival influence. A definite tendency towards prog-rock "song-shifting." Pretentious lyrics. A little bit of 70s yacht-rock and Doobie Brothers harmonizing. But (aside from lacking prog's bombastic noodling), they took like, the dullest elements of each of those things. Absolute shit, in my opinion.

After the show, according to an SNL cast member, Lorne Michaels asked the main guy how old everyone in the band was, and the main guy said, "Well, most of us are beardy-something.

Toothless hippie fucks.

You know, several years back, when I saw Tortoise (at their peak of fame) play the most tedious show I'd ever seen, without a spark of energy or personality, I thought about the music scene and realized we were in for brutal times. Iron & Wine is like Dan Fogelberg mixed with something even worse (three years ago, people got upset when I said this. Now look! They're on the "Twilight" soundtrack!) A whole bunch of bands are like the Eagles. It's sad, really.

heh I love the lyrics of White Winter Hymnal, though

I loved Iron + Wine live.

(I hated Band of Horses, tho, who opened for him.)

Deedee you are a wise wise soul.

I stand by this:

ban Seattle

― Ringtone Tycoon (The Reverend), Tuesday, December 2, 2008 3:14 AM Bookmark

This is confusing: I thought they sounded better than anyone usually sounds on that stage, and their harmonies on "Mykonos" came across really well.

I also feel weird that I keep repping for them on this thread despite not being hugely attached to their music -- it's just that they do strike me as ... I was going to say "competent," but it's well beyond that -- I think they're pretty great at what they do, even thought What They Do isn't usually likely to be something I fall head-over-heels in love with.

dude, competent would be otm for me. they're excellent singers, as someone noted upthread or maybe another thread. but that's all i can really get behind for these guys. there's certainly an audience for this, but as long as there are 100x more creative and visionary artists out there, i'm just not going to be among them, thanks

them = the aforementioned audience

So funny. I watched the SNL last night and had the exact opposite reaction after the first song. I turned to my wife and said "they probably sold so many fucking records after that." I thought it was really pretty, and different-sounding from most of the indie schlock on SNL.

I though "Mykonos" was really good on SNL. It made me want to try to listen to them again. My girlfriend said she had to avert her eyes because of the beards. I don't recall the second song at all, so it was either really boring or I had fallen asleep because of the general lameness of the show.

remember hataz, this band currently helps pay for Pissed Jeans and Obits. it's a living.

This is confusing: I thought they sounded better than anyone usually sounds on that stage, and their harmonies on "Mykonos" came across really well.

Agreed. I thought they sounded better than any live-on-TV band has in a long time. The only weird thing was the number of close-ups on every single member of the band. These guys aren't pretty enough to warrant so many close-ups. But I thought they turned in two really outstanding performances.

otm. listening to them >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> looking at them.

I feel exactly the same way about their album as I did about the Magic Numbers - nice melodies n all, but get more than one choooon plz. White Winter Hymnal is gorgeous, nothing else comes close.

There's something about the SNL space that has always sucked the life out of every performer, but wall-of-sound bands will probably be able to blast their way into listenability. Something more intricate just ends up sounding distant and disjointed. Could be just the way things are miked; maybe it sounds better if you're there. If you knew and liked those Fleet Foxes songs beforehand, you could follow along and provide the what was missing yourself, but if that was your first time listening to them, I can't imagine you'd expend any energy trying to get into them.

I disagree. The more intricate performances actually work better and seem more authentic on the small screen than the big loud bands. Think about Radiohead's performance of "The National Anthem" (10/4/00) compared to a wall-of-sound band like P.O.D. (4/20/02) who seem stifled by the room around them. Yet artists like Rickie Lee Jones (4/7/79) and Cowboy Junkies (2/18/89) seem set free.

And as noted with Kanye West, rap artists have always had a tough time on SNL. Think back to L.L. Cool J (10/24/87) trying to get everyone to put their hands in the air, resulting in five very awkward rows of white people, trying to get "with it" with their waves.

Are you guys really hating on Fleet Foxes looks?

well, their "look" is pretty damn deliberate. no one's making them grow those hideous beards and dress like they just stepped out of an ironic chow line. add this to the fact that they have zero stage presence or charisma and i don't find a fucking thing about them endearing.

ironic chow line

this dance craze is sweeping the nation btw

haha

In their defense, when I saw them in LA a few months back they had a ton of charisma and stage presence. They were really an entertaining band to watch. Every single guy with a mic--i.e., all but the guitarist--were super chatty throughout. It was a really wonderful show.

SNL, on the other hand... they just looked like they didn't want to fuck it up.

can hear my roommate listening in his bedroom and ive realized that idk if ive ever felt such a discrepancy between how much i enjoy a band when i hear them peripherally than when i'm actually trying to 'listen' to them

Wait, which do you like more?

peripherally

It is good housework music.

Listened to Yellow House the other day. Knocks this into a cocked-hat.

righto, so this 2CD version: worth it?

Or, too much of a.

Help me sick m, you'd know...

I didn't even know there was a 2CD version? What's on the second disk?

apparently, now it contains "everything that's been recorded and released up to date"

Which is damn good of them, I have to say. Moreso than some extra DVD of a short documentary of larking around, 1 video and a screensaver...

Looking at it, the second CD is the Sun Giant EP plus a cover of a trad song that Steeleye Span made more widely known (False Knight On The Road - interesting choice cos for me it's the Brit folk-rock influence and the whole wide-eyed nature of a lot of that music that differentiates Fleet Foxes from Grizzly Bear). Haven't actually heard the cover, but the EP was good with some stronger tracks than some of those that made the album proper. It is just more of the same though basically.

Aye, I'd say just pick up the EP; it's more consistent and upbeat than the album proper.

apparently the dude has a solo project called "white antelope". the name alone boils my blood

Dude, it's a unicorn thing, you wouldn't understand.

http://i.imgur.com/SnftV.jpg

I'm a big fan of these guys. Follow them very closely.

Therefore, I speculate after this last album and tour (and the subsequent happenings), that they're probably done for good. They will all probably continue to make music, but not as a group. I just hope Robin Pecknold has the good sense not to use the name Fleet Foxes anymore.

(unless, of course, I'm wrong and everyone's back on board for another album and tour)

I never understood the Beach Boys comparisons either. I have a theory that it all stems back to one Beach Boys song, to which a rather well-known Fleet Foxes song bares a strong resemblance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UzIuEC_N58

For other Fleet ephemera, I'm really pleased with Poor Moon thus far. Already have seen them live (blew me away — all brand new material). Not crazy about the J. Tillman/Father John Misty stuff, though I never really have been.

I have a theory that it all stems back to one Beach Boys song,

nah it's not just that. The breakdown in Quiet Houses (around 2:31) is a really blatant Smile/Pet Sounds pastiche - the plunking 1/4 piano, the ascending plucked guitar countermelody. There are a bunch of moments like this in their catalog.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugxXqqGepCU

Right, but I meant without that one big significance, stuff like you pointed out on 'Quiet Houses' may have gone otherwise unnoticed.

That stuff is definitely there, but the similarities between Fleet Foxes and, say, CSN+Y or early America are much more prevalent.

yeah they're definitely more of a early 70s folkie thing to my ears too. And I think they arrange their melodies more like Simon & Garfunkel than the Beach Boys lol

I never understood the Beach Boys comparisons either. I have a theory that it all stems back to one Beach Boys song, to which a rather well-known Fleet Foxes song bares a strong resemblance.

I have a theory that many critics were trained by Pavlov himself to shout 'Beach Boys!' whenever a human voice harmonised with another human voice.

An aside: speaking of 60's group harmonies that were possibly influential on the Fleet boys — what about the Association?

turns out i like a fleet foxes song. who knew?

are you okay? you should sit down, elevate your legs, maybe take a sedative.

wait, sedative + fleet-foxes song might be a bad combination.

which song

I think there was one I liked, but then there was a grizzly bear song that sounded very similar to it but better and then I forgot about the fleet foxes song

Oh yeah it was this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afRPnsncupg

fleet foxes are okay. bon iver can be okay. sufjan stevens is okay. many indie bands that are pilloried endlessly are okay. if people can listen appreciatively to seals & crofts songs, they can hardly complain much about fleet foxes.

I think those are all examples of people that are pretty damned good at their craft, and all have a certain kind of tender yet grand style that can get very cloying in more than a small dose.