Fleet Foxes
Ragged Wood
Sub Pop SPCD 777 (www.subpop.com)
A CD to which I’ve continued to return with enjoyment throughout the summer is Fleet Foxes’s debut full length on Sub Pop. The interest their first EP garnered this Spring, the reputation of their live shows, and the press statements abuzz about the group’s status as “Indie it-band” of the moment created an excitement difficult to live up to; but Ragged Wood is an all-too-rare instance in which one should believe the hype.
It’s not that Fleet Foxes is breaking new ground musically. They are well-steeped in late Sixties folk-rock and sunny West Coast pop. However, unlike other recent acts such as Explorers Club and She & Him who channel the past in charming, but specifically locatable ways, there is no easy carbon-dating or pigeon-holing of Ragged Wood. Lead singer Robin Pecknold’s lyrical tenor is haloed by supple support vocal harmonies; arrangements combine reverberant acoustics, gentle percussion articulations, copious strummed acoustic guitars, and occasional electric adornments. Those who like to dip into a CD, sampling a song here and there to get a taste for a band’s sound, are surely missing out if they let haste deprive them of listening to this straight through. Ragged Wood is worth savoring, as I’ve learned to my delight.
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