I went to see the Fleet Foxes and their support, Beach House, at the University of London (ULU) this evening.
Fleet Foxes are really difficult to define – a five-piece band from Seattle (although given their beardy image you’d be forgiven for thinking that they’re from some Tenessee backwater) their vocal style is similar in some ways to Crosby, Stills and Nash, but theres also country and some folk influences in the mix too. They’re a really talented bunch of musicians, with some numbers featuring four members of the band on different guitars, and the material they write runs from calm and peaceful little songs to really raucous, stirring stuff. I have to say that in my experience they’re completely unique…
What was really interesting was that the lead singer seemed genuinely taken aback that the London audience knew their material so well – many people in the crowd were shouting out song titles and a lot more were singing along! The new album, ‘Fleet Foxes’, will be on sale from 16 June, but if you want to see whether you like them there are 5 downloads available from their Myspace site, here. I recommend ‘Blue Ridge Mountains’, with it’s lush acapella opening, to start with – you might become as captivated with them as I am…