Q: What is the opposite of Sunny Harmonies?
4 Out of 5 Stars
A: "The Helplessness Blues" by Fleet Foxes. These folkies have the rich, gorgeous harmonies of the Beach Boys or CSN down to almost museum quality, but where most would call Beach Boys harmony sunny and fun, Fleet Foxes' hit you like 42 sad movie endings spliced together into a 40 minute compilation. They make feeling glum feel oh, so groovy.
Clouds of vocal atmosphere are what Fleet Foxes specialize in. "So now I am older than my mother and father/when they had their daughter" are the first words on the album, and that sets the tone on the remainder of the album. It helps that heaping stacks of near gospel harmony climbs the hills behind lead vocalist Robin Pecknold cushions the fact that Robin is pouring his soul out on each song. The band also eschews traditional instrumentation (marxophone? Hammer dulcimer? Water harp? Tibetan singing bowls?) to enhance the other-worldliness of their sound. That's not to say Fleet Foxes are totally out there; hearing "sim salabim" in the middle of a tune made me smile and think of Jonny Quest. (Well, maybe that wasn't their original intent, but it works for me.)
"Helplessness Blues" is an album that never goes static, never stops to judge what it's doing and sometimes erupts in surprising ways (the cutting, dissonant sax barks and string arrangement at the end of "The Shrine/An Argument"). While often rooted in a familiar base - like the CSN harmonies in "The Plains/Bitter Dancer" - yet taking routes that aren't staid, "Helplessness Blues" moves Fleet Foxes into a place of their own. As the title song draws to a close, Robin wistfully sings "someday I'll be like the man on the screen." There's a hope and idealism to that one line that belies just how deep and treacherously much of the album looks at life, and on their sophomore album, Fleet Foxes sound like they may be up to the challenges.
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