While I am probably the fondest of the genre on FOWR, 2011 had stumped me stumped me to the point of questioning actual pop conventions that I thought were pop conventions that weren’t actually pop conventions. I wrote in my review of Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s self-titled album, about pop of our generation being primarily about reflection; the idea of breaking old ground in attempt to create new. Strangely, none of our nominees exemplified a gaping non-modern feel. It’s all very progressive and that’s what makes each album in contention nothing to trifle with.
Fleet Foxes are, with no doubt in my mind, the best current-day independent folk group and that belief did not cease a single inch with the creation of Helplessness Blues. When I first heard it, I could not stop listening to Helplessness Blues for at least a week. It had everything I loved about Fleet Foxes’ first album: somber lyrical undertones, stunning harmonies, and a deep instrumental prowess amongst every member. I also had the luxury of seeing the band in Berkeley during the Helplessness Blues tour and it was the absolute largest, most presentational and musically involved show I had been to all year, reinforcing my idea of exactly how much is going on in their recorded music, which is more than I can say for most other groups playing poppy folk music.
Helplessness Blues may be an incredible sing-along album but in no way is it completely formulated. Their eight minute track “The Shrine/An Argument” shows a split moment of experimentalism yet to be heard from them, refreshing from the initial thought of what they were all for. With this, the future bodes well for Fleet Foxes, but that doesn’t go without saying how much more of a sophomore achievement Helplessness Blues is that it is made out to be.
Fermata over Whole Rest 