Fleet Foxes Nailed It

Okay, so Fleet Foxes really nailed it on Saturday Night Live tonight. I mean, I was seriously excited and invigorated every time Robin hit the "go"s towards the end of "Mykonos." The line(s) I'm referring to were so much more emotive and powerful on the show than the recorded version of the song. Awesome. Vocally, as my friend Scott would say, he "wailed." The whole band was spot on and tight. They've been on TV before, but I know they were pretty nervous (under shows on their MySpace is/was "Saturday Night Live - scared out of brain). Despite the nerves, they managed to perform really strongly. I'll post the footage if it happens to surface online.

I first discovered the band in the blogosphere last year. I kept seeing the name Fleet Foxes on a number of the blogs I frequent. I didn't really pay too much attention to them. When a band gets a ton of hype, it usually kind of ruins it for me. It's just one of those things -- I can't exactly say why. Sometimes, I'll revisit the band/artist after the fuss has died down and reevaluate the music with fresh ears. Anyways, if I remember correctly, I decided to check them out after I learned that two members of Crystal Skulls were in the band (Crystal Skulls made one of my favorite albums: Blocked Numbers).

There's not much else I can say about their music that hasn't already been said or written. I mean, they seemed to be on basically every critic's top albums of 2008 list (I didn't pick up Fleet Foxes until December 23rd, which didn't give me enough time to take it in and make a call on it). So to just sum it all up: classic, timeless, familiar-yet-original, beautiful, baroque, chilling, moving...plenty of other adjectives have been attached I'm sure. Overhyped, overrated...whether you believe it to be true or not, it doesn't really matter because they are truly talented and deserve the recognition and accolades. They are entirely more enjoyable and talented than that autotune-laden, manufactured, lifeless pop music...and you know what I'm talking about. Fleet Foxes is real and true, full of life. I'm a fan, despite the hype.