Fleet Foxes garnished some really well deserved respect after their debut self titled album. Its no wonder then that the world was watching with close eyes as the Seattle based folk outfit recorded and released their follow up, Helplessness Blues. Let me say right off the bat that Helplessness Blues is a different type of album than Fleet Foxes. Where Fleet Foxes favors the song, the instantly catchy folk toe tapper, Helplessness Blues favors the emotionality that folk can often bring, it contrasts folks musical simplicity and the simplicity of folk characters with complex themes lyrics and emotionality. Not to say that the self titled album doesn’t do that, its just that Helplessness Blues does it better, and while it may not be as much fun to listen to as Fleet Foxes it is a departure that the band had to make. The tracks that really knocked me over were the intro Montezuma, the title track, and the final two tracks Blue Spotted Tail and Grown Ocean. Of those four that I mentioned the one that for me does the best job of capturing really what the album is about is the closer Grown Ocean. It pits the naivety of a dreamer and the dream that he swears “all my life I will try to attain it” against the ocean, vast and mystifying, complex and deep
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