Fleet Foxes [Slipcase] * by Fleet Foxes

Pros: Multi-layered vocals and folsky instruments - it's the "wall-of-sound" approach, organic-style.

Cons: A little sparse on the lyrics. Maybe too short? That's about it for the nitpicks.

The Bottom Line: A breathtakingly gorgeous piece of work. I simply can't recommend it enough.

Review: You know how they say never to judge a book by its cover? I'd like to add a corollary to that often true cliché - and you're probably expecting me to say that you should never judge a CD by its cover, either. Which is mostly true, though in the ...

Pros: A brilliant, immediately satisfying debut

Cons: None

The Bottom Line: One of the year's best albums, Fleet Foxes combines Crosby, Stills, and Nash vocal harmonies with indie rock and rustic Americana to great effect.

Review: It's all well and good to listen to experimental and challenging music, music with grime, sweat, and blood caked unto every note...but sometimes you need a reminder of what else is out there. Music that is impossibly catchy, un-apologetically classicist ...

Pros: Production, Performance, Vocal Harmonies, Folky Sound, & Pecknold's Vocals.

Cons: None.

The Bottom Line: Fleet Foxes' Self-Titled Debut Album is a Breath of Fresh Air Revitalizing the Sound of Americana with a Dash of Baroque Pop.

Review: With American music in danger of being very stale and predictable, there's always something that goes against the grain. Sometimes, relying on its roots to stand out ended up being the right thing. In the late 1960s, Bob Dylan's former backing band that ...

Pros: Beautiful, dreamy, echoey-indie-folky pop. BUY IT.

Cons: None, BUY IT NOW

The Bottom Line: The Bottom Line tells you anything it wants - any old lie will do.

Review: Call me an elitist, and I probably am, but I hate hype. Once something reaches a certain level of hype, with everyone exclaiming how amazingly awesome it is, I become predisposed to hate it for its sheer popularity. Plus, after a certain plateau of ...

Pros: Those vocal harmonies are truly great. So is the organic production.

Cons: The album is a little boring/sleepy. Some soul or attitude might change that.

The Bottom Line: If you haven't already,, you do want to listen to Fleet Foxes. Just don't expect the world-changing disc many seem to be promising. It's only ok.

Review: There's a scene in Tropic Thunder when Robert Downey Jr's character, the critically acclaimed Australian actor Kurt Lazarus, is asked by Ben Stiller what dude he is (a version of "who are you?"). At the time of the question, Downey is playing ...