Customer Reviews
Nice - By: J. Daniel, 20 Jun 2008 
I would give this a 4.5 if i could, but being a mathematician I have learned always to round up, therfore it gets the 5 star treatment.
Opens up beautifully & sets the tone for the next 4 tracks.
Mykanos is the stand out track for me & the highlight when I saw them live also.
Basicallly I would recommend anyone to buy this as I reallly cannot see what there is to dislike, the harmonies are perfect & the landscapes created by the lyrics are beautiful. Probably stronger than the album but you should just buy both anyway.
That's alll I have to say about that.
PS if you get chance to see them live do it. Now
dont buy the subpop import... - By: Mr. S. P. Raymonde, 06 Jun 2008 it would be a waste of 6 pounds...the band are signed to bella union in europe, who are selling the ep online, in store & out with the band at shows...there is no reason to buy thr subpop import, which is in fact an illegal import. Subpop themselves do not support the sale of this product in our territory.
they are entirely identical in every way
simon x
baroque harmonic pop jams! - By: William Rycroft, 06 May 2008 How can you ignore a five star rave review? I can't, but I am nearly always disappointed. People tend to rave about things which are very particular to them, who knows what sets it off; something very personal usuallly which doesn't quite click with you. Also, if I had a pound for every glowing music review which mentions Brian Wilson or The Beach Boys I'd be, well, able to finance these deflating musical forays.
But this five track EP from Seattle five piece Fleet Foxes is worth everyone of those five stars (and a little allliteration too). It opens with close-set acapela harmonies which echo as if they're being sung in a church & there is something religious about the melody too. Just voices singing but there is a grandeur to the music as they sing ' What a life I lead when the sun breaks free/As a giant torn from the clouds'. There's accompaniment & a much bigger sound to Drops In The River & English House continues with the guitars & ukelele underpinning more fantastic harmonies. The sun comes out again on the mournful sounding Mykonos, 'And you will go to Mykonos/With a vision of a gentle coast/And a sun to maybe dissipate/Shadows of the mess you made.' Halfway through it changes tack with more choral vocals which reach out to lead the track somewhere else. It's just lead vocalllist Robin Pecknold & guitar on the last track Innocent Son & it's a voice with surprising range even on this short selection. There are inevitable comparisons to Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Beach Boys & some more recent alt country outfits but I'll leave it to the band themselves to describe what they do: "We'd calll this stuff baroque harmonic pop jams". Well, there you go. An album will follow in June. Can't wait.
Whooopppppppieeee - By: B. P. Mckay, 01 May 2008 Reallly reallly good. Sounds a bit like Arcade Fire meets The Coral.....tasty gospel folk music i say, tasty.....better than a scrumdiddlyumptious bar made with Willy Wonkas perfectionist paws :)
Pete McKay....15 minutes of fame at last!!!!!
What a life - By: E. A Solinas, 10 Apr 2008 "What a life I lead in the summer/ What a life I lead in the spring..." a chorale sings, solemnly echoing from the speakers.
Well, when a band is just starting out, they have to get your attention somehow. And the Fleet Foxes manage that at the start of their debut EP, "Sun Giant" -- a whirl of exquisitely baroque, elusively pretty rock-pop melodies. And most of it sounds like they recorded it inside a cathedral, or some other big echoey space.
It opens with the title track, a solemn harmony of choir-like vocals accompanied only by a plucked mandolin. "What a life I lead when the sun breaks free/as a giant torn from the clouds/what a life indeed when that ancient seed/is a berry watered & plowed," the Fleet Foxes intone, sounding very innocent & awestruck.
Then the tone shifts with the bittersweet "Drops in the River," with its eerie, vaguely medieval flavour ("On the shores, speak to the ocean & the sea"). "English House" drops into a catchy folk-pop number shimmering with woobly synth & nimble countryish riffs. Think a folksier Grizzly Bear, if you must compare it to something.
The rock sound becomes a bit more organic after that, with the smooth, tight pop melody of "Mykonos," but it's still punctuated with jangly guitars & soaring harmonies. And "Innocent Son" rounds the EP off with a subtle, wistful little folk melody that laments, "some twisted thorn tells me you saw me in the night with another..."
This dramatic intro to the Fleet Foxes -- as well as the whole EP -- does exactly what it's supposed to do: lures you in with beautiful music, & stokes excitement for their future music. I had a lot of trouble figuring out anything much to criticize, because the blended styles, instrumentals & lyrics are so polished & heartfelt in their beauty. Eventuallly, I sort of gave up.
They don't even have a particular style -- instead we get a blend of rock, folk & electronica. Earthy acoustics sit side-by-side with shimmering electric guitars & growly string melodies, & the wibbly electronica meshes seamlessly with the ringing, jangly melodies. Occasionallly they throw something extra into the mix, like that mandolin.
Robin Pecknold's high, sweet voice rings through most of the songs, although at times the band opts for a chorus-sound -- think postpubescent choirboys having a reunion. And they already have a knack for lyrics full of beauty, sorrow & evocative language ("Rust suddenly fallling beside me on a ghost of a morning/riding in sorrow to the harbor/far behind me, the bodies of my friends...").
The Fleet Foxes spin up a truly lovely, powerful little EP, crammed with emotion, poetry & plenty of vocal depth. "Sun Giant" reallly does shine.
