Fleet Foxes - 'Helplessness Blues'

Sub Pop; 2011

Our Take - 9.1


Robin Pecknold and his infamous gang of harmonizing gentlemen have returned to follow up their largely successful self-titled debut album released in 2008. A lot of noteworthy things have happened in the three years separating these two records. For one the band, especially Robin, has certainly felt the spotlighted pressure fueled by an enormous cult-like following that accompanied the release of their first album. Robin has also undergone one of the most intense creative/self-critical periods in his songwriting career thus far. He has gone from scrapping songs half-way through to monotonously restructuring complete albums. Helplessness Blues has been a long time coming and has undergone an extremely rigorous reformation. Mr. Pecknold has also been going through a tumultuous break-up/make-up relationship for several years, which no doubt weighs heavy on any given susceptible songwriting mind and heavily influences lyrics as well as musical style. 

Perhaps most noticeably the changes can be seen in the poetics of the record. The lyrics seem largely more intuitive and pensive with an almost overwhelming stress on aging and validation at times nearly unthinkable in such a youthful singer/songwriter as the twenty-something Robin Pecknold ("So guess I got old / I was like trash on the sidewalk," "In that dream I'm as old as the mountains" etc.). "Montezuma" begins with Pecknold searching for meaning in the simple fact that he is now older than his parents were when they had their first child. Likewise, the title track reflects upon what Pecknold dreams of doing with his life as he looks for a spirituality or philosophy to determine his place in the universe. He is faced with the difficulty of choosing between creating a persona wholly original and unique or accepting a more simple life and retreating to work on an orchard with a loved one. Properly placed, "The Cascades," being the only instrumental track on the record, gives the listener a much needed moment to decipher the weight of Pecknold's last declaration, "Someday I'll be like the man on the screen," and decide whether his motives remain purely his own or have been too influenced by movies and media.

The Fleet Foxes have also harnessed a strong ability to create and fuse multiple mini-tracks within one another often transitioning superbly from one musical idea to the next. The effect is that of unpredictability throughout and keeps us on our toes not knowing which direction the music is headed. Even "Helplessness Blues" being a single track in itself (w/o slash indications that is) has a noticeable transition where the song can be neatly divided in half. Their longest effort on the album, "The Shrine / An Argument," begins with a soft sung narrative and quickly explodes into Pecknold really pushing the limits of his voice and nearly shouting lyrics through our speakers, and the song's still not even half over. It closes with some of the strangest musical sounds to come out of a saxophone, let alone the Fleet Foxes, making us wonder once again how we got here, but also simultaneously realizing the reasons as to why the track might be titled "An Argument."

Some tracks on Helplessness Blues also seem to have more of a kick to them. The rhythmically driven "Battery Kinzie" or album closer "Grown Ocean" emphasize a bigger sound than their previous album did and appear to be more percussively oriented, a direction that should be respected and cherished within such a group of harmonizing folksy fellows. That being said, Robin can still appropriately take things back a step and demarcate a track solely for his voice and an unaccompanied guitar reminiscent of "Meadowlarks" to show off his versatility as an all-around songwriter ("Blue Spotted Tail"). The harmonies are less abundant on this record than on their self-titled debut, but still in considerable high demand. They appear to come in at just the right moments, when Pecknold needs that added volume to emphasize or decorate lasting choruses and lingering melodies to make a lasting impression upon any listener, both passive and active.