The folk influence is a major part of the indie movement, in fact it could be called a forefather. Folk came to a crawl with the advent of punk, but resurged with the popularity of indie in various alloyed forms (The Shins, Peter, Bjorn, and John, The Mountain Goats, Iron & Wine ect).
With Fleet Foxes you get a classic incarnation of folk-rock with a modern energy. The music flows in the same vein as the major folk-rock bands of the 1960's, such as the Grateful Dead and the Byrds with some Simon and Garfunkel thrown in.
I enjoyed the self-titled album far more than I thought I would, displaying its large cross-genera appeal (I'm definitely not who you would call a "folk person").
The music has a gentle but energetic flow which mixes well with Robin Pecknold's redolently haunting voice, as he sings about waiting lovers, dead brothers, and the serene passage of the seasons. The various layers of audio add atmosphere in the background, but yield effectively to Pecknold and the guitar, creating an overall unified sound out of a myriad of different instruments and sounds.
So, Matt, I gave you what you were looking for, now I want something in return.
Explain the popularity of The Hold Steady and Vampire Weekend. I don't get either of these bands.
I've listened to Vampire's Weekend's self-titled album about three times now since its release and in the interval I've completely forgotten what they sound like. I'm not even joking. No band has ever given me such a powerful Memento effect before. The reason I've listened to it three times is because every few months I remember their incredible popularity (I was recently reminded by their climb to the top of the Best of 08 charts) and give them another go, only to realize, as the last few seconds of the last song drift away that I've already forgotten what they sound like, which emphasizes my total bafflement at their popularity. Now, I can't say they were bad by any measure, I mean, if they were bad my brain would put a TOXIC sign over the album cover, I just don't think a band as unmemorable as them deserve the clout. But that's just me.
Also, The Hold Steady...
The Hold Steady is generally lauded as America's best "bar band" which, upon examination is totally true. Only THS not the famed tragic dipso poet of Eugene O'Neill fame...he's the guy at the end of the bar who shouts, throws things, is obscene, and usually get thrown out by the bartender to the applause of the bar's inhabitants.
The HS's new album Stay Positive made it on a number of Best of 2008 charts, including Rolling Stone's. NPR called it one of the "Top Ten 'Smart Albums'" of 2008. They are generally applauded for there revival of classic rock, but the thing is, The Hold Steady doesn't make me want to listen to the Hold Steady, it just makes me miss bands like Bob Seager and the Silver Bullet Band, Thin Lizzy, and Bruce Springsteen which communicate similar themes with much greater impact.
The lyrics follow a dark journey into the drugs/sex/violence of America's youth (totally unexplored territory). I guess I wouldn't get so hung up about this if the singer, Craig Finn, didn't sound like a 50 year old smoker. In reality Finn is 37, which, to me, is still too old to be singing about crystal meth, drag racing, and other teenage shenanigans. Sure, of all things youth probably dies the hardest, but Finn's lyrics about aging in a youthful scene aren't tragic, they're creepy. It's like if James Dean didn't die but kept making the same kinds of movies. After a while you'd just be sketched out. Also, the lyrics go for shock value rather than slow burn so the album gives away all the surprises early ("sniffing crystal in cute little cars/getting nailed behind dumpsters behind county bars" One of the Cutters). If you like the first four songs, good, because the other eight are more or less the same thing with varying levels of tempo and volume.
That said the music itself isn't too terrible. They do succeed in recreating the desperate energy of the working-class rock bands they try to emulate. In this way they're good to have on in the background, if you don't listen to them too closely. I just can't figure out what makes them supposedly "great."
I think I'm going to pop in Darkness at the Edge of Town now
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