Food & Drink

The Fleet Foxes’s Crafty New Album

Seattle's alt-folk faves are back with a new album and local shows this month.

By Seattle Mag April 14, 2011

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This article originally appeared in the May 2011 issue of Seattle magazine.

Given the hype surrounding the Fleet Foxes’ self-titled debut album in 2008, you might have thought the local band invented an entirely new music genre. Among the abundant accolades for the alt-folkies (led by Lake Washington High School grads Robin Pecknold and Skyler Skjelset) was the designation “album of the year” by Billboard magazine’s Critics’ Choice awards. Locally, you couldn’t swing a cat without hitting a Foxes show. And then? ThiFlengs went awfully quiet. Music bloggers wondered whether the band might have returned to its den for good. So when word came that a new album, Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop) would be released this month, alt-rockers sang hallelujah all over town. The record features the Foxes’ signature twist on complicated harmonies reminiscent of Crosby, Stills & Nash and the Beach Boys, and sophisticated lyrics that recall Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Plus plenty of that pretty strumming.

Celebrate the emergence from hibernation at the Moore Theatre shows. 5/2–5/3. 7:30 p.m. Prices vary. The Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave.; 877.784.4849; fleetfoxes.com.

 

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