I still remember when I was 16 and had owned my first CD player for a few months, and I was telling someone how I was buying CDs like crazy. The person told me the same thing happened to them, but it was a phase that would pass. Turns out he was a liar.
I buy about 70-80 albums a year, though in 2000 I began buying vinyl when I could - now I don't buy anything on CD, because almost any album will eventually find a vinyl release. But very few of the albums I buy elicit an immediate reaction, where I become so obsessed that I want to listen to the album all the time. Usually, if it's something I really like, I'll listen to it a lot for about a month, but then it gets shelved in favor of whatever is next, making an appearance again at some point down the line.
But what keeps me buying albums is when you hear that one that does get stuck in your head, and you can't wait to get home to listen to it. Maybe it's a band that has created something new and seemingly revolutionary (Kid A), or maybe it's an album that sounds familiar and comfortable - you've heard it before, but not quite like this.
Fleet Foxes falls in the latter category - I don't think anyone would call the debut album revolutionary, as there are a number of influences even the most casual listener would recognize. But I was hooked from the first song I heard, "White Winter Hymnal." The acoustic guitars, the harmonies - they blew me away.
I played their eponymous debut non-stop for the first few months, and I was out of town when they played a tiny show in LA. But luckily they came back a few months later, playing a bigger show at the El Rey. The lead singer was giddy and amazed, claiming he couldn't believe how big the place was (the capacity is between 700-900 according to different sources).
The show ranks as one of the best I've ever seen. Five guys in the band, four of them singing in perfect harmony (and the lead singer with an amazing voice), and probably some of the funniest between-song banter I've ever heard. You could tell they were having a good time, still high off the reception their album had received.
I don't think I've been as excited about a new album as I am for their next one. I worry that it won't live up to the first album - not because it won't be as good, but because my expectations are so high. But no matter what happens, I'll always have the first album.
All of this gushing about that album, and I'm actually going to feature a song off their Sun Giant EP, released prior to the debut. It was packaged with the album in the vinyl version, so the two are interchangeable to me. While part of me felt I should be true to my first experience hearing the band and play "White Winter Hymnal," the song "Mykonos" has become my favorite, and is probably already on my list of all-time favorite songs (if such a list existed). Check out the harmonies at the end of the song - hope you like it at least a fraction as much as I do.
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