Fleet Foxes | Is Helplessness Blues A Good Album?

Unlike Fleet Foxes Self-Titled freshmen album, which was almost an unfettered explosion of melancholic emotion, Haplessness Blues has that same harrowing sense but goes even further exploring the anger side of the Starbucks friendly band. The Seattle based folk band made a sizable impact on the music scene when they came out with their Self-Title debut back in 2008. They were everywhere and on every movie and television soundtrack that was in need of a moment with a hint of longing to it. And even though it was the band’s first album, Fleet Foxes were in their rightful place with an album that had a level of quality that spoke for itself. Their popularity spurred on a host of other bands that tried to make their own mark on the indie folk scene. The amount of pressure on Fleet Foxes must have been immense, given the success they had right out of the gates.

Helplessness Blues does not tout a massive shift of style for Fleet Foxes. No, their brand of harmony riddled vocals and acoustic guitar portions, that would make any fan of the first album tingle with joy, permeate Helplessness Blues. One clear difference between this album and their last is a distinct aggression and angst imbedded in the lyrics. The track Battery Kinzie off of the new album is particularly interesting because of how its lyrics recount an obvious and surreal anxiety dream that would put the fear of god into any musician, the line goes: “I woke up one morning, all my fingers rotten.” The rest of the track continues in the same abstract direction, and makes for one of the strongest songs on the entire album. There is still sweetness in the music of Fleet Foxes, if you are a listener who is looking for more of an Oliver James kind of track, you will find it in Lorelai.

It turns out that Helplessness Blues is a great album and a solid follow up to the band’s first album.