(Sub Pop/Bella Union/Inertia)

Bearded dudes from Seattle return with more beardy folk tunes

It seems like only yesterday when the beard-growing folk music revival began its triumphant march into the zeitgeist. For a while, it appeared that everyone was out composing multipart harmonies, twanging banjos and writing songs about log cabins. Many blamed the critically acclaimed 2008 debut of Seattle quintet Fleet Foxes for spawning disparate array of imitators intent to capitalise on this record’s fashionability, often with high variable results (we do blame Fleet Foxes for Mumford & Sons, don’t we?). While Fleet Foxes’ prove that they are miles ahead of their mimics in terms of song writing ability, their second record, Helplessness Blues, does struggle to reach its predecessor’s heights.  Musically, it treads familiar territory, relying primarily on finger picked acoustic guitar and vocal harmonies to elicit a yearning for of history and tradition seemingly absent in contemporary society. Vocalist Robin Pecknold has a great voice, and it is further emphasised across many tracks, particularly on the likes of Montezuma. Lyrically, the record seems more sobering, Pecknold lamenting the predictable rhythm of the everyday, explained clearly on the title track: “And now, after some thinking / I’d say I’d rather be / a functioning cog in some great machinery serving something beyond me.” However, despite the proficiency on display, it is difficult to escape the feeling that these songs sound too proverbial nowadays. Even the tacked-on trumpet outro on The Shrine / An Argument seems a desperate attempt to overcome a lack of new ideas. It is clear that those who enjoyed this first record will enjoy this one, those more sceptical may be harder to convince.

***½

DARRAGH MURRAY

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