Fleet Foxes — Fleet Foxes

The cover art of Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut is a painting by Dutch Renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder. This is interesting, as the influence of Renaissance music on Fleet Foxes' sound is something that has largely been overlooked.

Frontman Robin Pecknold has a voice that's a cross between Neil Young and Ryan Adams, and at times Fleet Foxes sound so much like fellow Sub Pop signees Band Of Horses that you could mistake one for the other. It's no coincidence that Phil Ek (who produced Band Of Horses' Cease To Begin) helmed this record.

But Fleet Foxes have a penchant for Renaissance-tinged instrumentation and melodies, which stops them from sounding like complete Band Of Horses rip-offs in the end. The finger-picked acoustic guitar on "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" could pretty much be played on a lute, and that instrument is pretty much all that's missing from "Blue Ridge Mountains."

While this album is a bit derivative, Fleet Foxes manage to introduce some interesting sounds throughout, which indicates promise. It's up to the band to build on these ideas for the follow-up.

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