Fleet Foxes was all the rage on the music blogs I read, so I decided to give them a shot. Tough to live up to all the hype. Well, virtually impossible to live up to all the hype. They do a pretty nice job of it though.

Sun It Rises starts with what sounds like gospel harmonies, quickly transitioning into an odd little Irish romp with Beach Boys harmonies mixed in. No kidding and it actually works nicely, although I’m not quite sure how.

White Winter Hymnal starts with a nice kind of 60’s kind of boy band harmonies. Something like the Righteous Brothers or the Kingston Trio. You get the picture. Ragged Wood continues along the same lines with a song that Glen Campbell might have done, but again with these rich, thick vocal harmonies with tons of reverb for good measure.

Tiger Mountain Peasant Song gets rid of the vocal harmonies and replaces them with a nice acoustic guitar, keeping the vocal style consistent. Quiet Houses follows and goes right back to the same big, slow harmonies with falsetto working above the melody.

You get the picture. The album does not vary much from its core theme, but it is excellent for what it is. The remaining songs are nice with the closing track, Oliver James, being exceptionally good.

Does Fleet Foxes live up to the hype? Pretty much and I am definitely a fan. I don’t think they are revolutionary like Broken Social Scene or Sufjan Stevens, but they are a wonderful indie band. As comes out throughout my comments, Fleet Foxes uses huge vocal harmonies and tons of reverb. They are not a twee band (at least in my mind), but do have a sugary, kind of lazy sound that pushes them in that direction.