Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues


Happy birthday to me (it's next Saturday, actually), let's open my present early and check out the sophomore album by Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues. I'm told it's not Blues, but Psychedelic Baroque Hipster Folk. The gatefold is the lyric sheet, so i'm game.

Oh yeah, this is fantastic. Probably the most noticeable aspect of the album is how '60s CSN/Paul Simony it is, but a close second is that these aren't pop songs and it feels less like being performed at, more like you're sitting at the campfire with the band and aren't quite sure if you're supposed to pick up some instrument and join in. Maybe bang a couple sticks together or ooh and ah as best you can during the free jam at the end. These aren't verse/chorus/bridge/chorus kind of things, more stream of consciousness, sing about what you're feeling at the moment type things. I like it a lot, but it does have an "oh, ok, i guess that song's over now" aspect that takes some getting used to. No wonder Christgau gave it a mere honorable mention, it's fresh and worldly artisanal goat cheese where he wants a 32 pack of Kraft singles. That horncophony at the end of The Shrine/An Argument is definitely an acquired taste, but it's definitely delectable.

But does it capture something relevant about being in a state of abject helplessness? Yes, yes i think it does. Oh, ok, i guess the album is over now. Not much i can do about that except listen to it again. Not an onerous task, in spite of its unmistakable early 21st-century hipster folk identity, and a large dose of lyrical esotericism, it has more than enough lush vocal harmonies and wackadoodle tangents to conjure up all the authentic 60s hippy nostalgia you could need or want at this point. Two thumbs up from your old pal Bottle, and cheers.

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