What I love best about the Fleet Foxes self titled album is the way they make it okay to vocally rock out to their smooth, harmonious tunes. Robin Pecknold has a knack for writing the singing equivalent to a catchy electric guitar riff. It’s feels a bit strange really, you’re listening to this folk inspired, Beach Boys-esq music and all of a sudden you can’t help but sing in loud outbursts “Lie to me if you will! At the top of Berringer hill! Tell me anything you want! Any old lie will do!” And I think it’s the charm of this juxtaposition of mellow, easy listening melodies and earth shattering emotional confessional vocals that really make Fleet Foxes special. It may not be following the current trend of DIY minimalism, but Fleet Foxes feels like the type of album that will be a reference point when one looks back through the musical context of the second half of this decade. Really, it has to be, it’s just that good.

A+