History Music / FleetFoxes

* {{Arcadia}}: The island of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Isle_of_Innisfree Innisfree]] is mentioned in both "Bedouin Dress" and "The Shrine / An Argument" on ''Helplessness Blues''. It is a place of harmony and consistency, in contrast to the uncertainty of the modern world, which is what ''Crack-Up'' is mostly about.

* {{Arcadia}}: The island of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Isle_of_Innisfree Innisfree]] is mentioned in both "Bedouin Dress" and "The Shrine / An Argument" on ''Helplessness Blues''. It is a place of harmony and consistency, in contrast to the uncertainty of the modern world.

* AnimatedMusicVideo: Up to the release of ''Crack-Up'', all but "He Doesn't Know Why" (which, as it's a basic performance video, was the only one left out of their 2021 music video retrospective). Each has been directed by Sean Pecknold, Robin's older brother and a filmmaker by trade.

* AnimatedMusicVideo: All but "He Doesn't Know Why" (which, as it's a basic performance video, was the only one left out of their 2021 music video retrospective). Each has been directed by Sean Pecknold, Robin's older brother and a filmmaker by trade.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The third album ''Crack-Up'' features relatively darker themes and lyrics and dissonant moods and sounds compared to their previous two LPs.

DarkerAndEdgier: The third album ''Crack-Up'' features relatively darker themes and lyrics and dissonant moods and sounds compared to their previous two LPs.

** Pecknold is credited with performing most instruments and vocals on the band's releases. The first three albums vary in the range of contributions from other members, whereas ''Shore'' features only Pecknold and a handful of outside collaborators. Pecknold has also self-produced the recent two records, though he collaborated with guitarist Skyler Skjelset on ''Crack-Up''.
** Pecknold has been credited as a featured artist and other small releases under his own name. However, his more prominent 2020s collaborations with Big Red Machine and Music/PostMalone see him credited as "Fleet Foxes", despite his being the only one in the band involved.
** Pecknold tends to conduct interviews on his own.
** Despite Pecknold's dominance, Skjelset has also been in the band since its inception, with keyboardist Casey Wescott joining shortly afterwards and remaining to this day. Christian Wargo and Morgan Henderson have also stayed with the band since their later recruitments.
* LoudnessWar: Inexplicably, ''Crack-Up'', at least in its CD edition, clips constantly and has a dynamic range of [=DR6=]. Not the kind of mastering you'd expect for a chilled-out FolkRock band.

* {{Medley}}: All of the "slash songs"––from "The Plains / Bitter Dancer" to "Quiet Air / Gioia"––can be considered as such with each consisting of at least two distinct sections. However, several songs––such as "Mykonos", "Ragged Wood", and "Helplessness Blues"––do so similarly despite their titles' not indicating as much.
* {{Modulation}}: As mentioned above, many songs change key signature at least once.

* SiameseTwinSongs: "Cassius, -" and "- Naiads, Cassadies" offer the clearest example (although, otherwise, their connections aren't obvious).
** A more abstract example: ''Helplessness Blues'' closer "Grown Ocean" is in the key of F, but it ends before resolving to the F chord. ''Crack-Up'' opener "I Am All That I Need / Arroyo Seco / Thumbprint Scar" is in the same key and begins on an F chord. All the more satisfying when one considers that there was a gap of ''six years'' between the two albums.

** Skjelset has also been in the band since its inception, with keyboardist Casey Wescott joining shortly afterwards. Bassist Christian Wargo and Morgan Henderson have also remained with the band since their later recruitments.

** Slight examples: "Grown Ocean" ("Children '''grown''' on the edge of the '''ocean'''"), "On Another Ocean" ("On ''the'' other ocean"), "A Long Way Past the Past" ("Been a long way ''from'' the past"), "I'm Not My Season" ("I'm not ''the'' season I'm in")

* ProgressiveRock: ''Crack-Up'' is frequently categorised as progressive folk, and ''Helplessness Blues'' has pretty substantial elements of the genre as well.

** A more abstract example: ''Helplessness Blues'' closer "Grown Ocean" is in the key of F, but it ends before resolving to the F chord. ''Crack-Up'' opener "I Am All That I Need / Arroyo Seco / Thumbprint Scar" then begins on that chord and in the same key. All the more satisfying when one considers that there was a gap of ''six years'' between the two albums.

* TitleDrop: Only "She Got Dressed", "In the Hot Hot Rays", "Textbook Love", "Oliver James", "If You Need To, Keep Time on Me", "Mearcstapa", "Fool's Errand", "Can I Believe You", and "Young Man's Game" feature their titles repeatedly. In all other instances [[NonAppearingTitle where the title does appear]], it does so only once briefly.
* ToTheTuneOf: Rhythmically and melodically, "Lorelai" is largely a reference to Music/BobDylan's "4th Time Around" (itself a reference to Music/TheBeatles' "Norwegian Wood"), likely as a way to pay tribute to one of their major influences.

** A significant portion of "The Shrine / An Argument" is in 13/4, or (4+3+3+3)/4.
* WordSaladLyrics: "White Winter Hymnal" stands out. It appears to be about the passing of the seasons. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQRS40OKNE Or maybe decapitation]].

* AnimatedMusicVideo: All but "He Doesn't Know Why" (which, as a basic performance video, was the only one left out of their 2021 music video retrospective). Each has been directed by Sean Pecknold, Robin's older brother and a filmmaker by trade.

!!They provide examples of:
* AnimatedMusicVideo: Several.
** The video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT-dxG4WWf4&ob=av2e Mykonos]] is a stop-motion narrative cartoon made mainly with cut-out triangles, animated to the rhythm of the song.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQRS40OKNE&ob=av3e White Winter Hymnal]] has a claymation video, reflecting on the themes of ageing and the passage of time.
** [[http://fleetfoxes.com/videos/music_videos The video]] for ''The Shrine / An Argument'' is animated as well. And by god is it [[DerangedAnimation deranged]]! Like ''Mykonos'' it also appears to tell a story, but this time with an antelope in the leading role, accompanied by the denizens of your worst nightmares.
* {{Arcadia}}: The island of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Isle_of_Innisfree Innisfree]] is mentioned several times on ''Helplessness Blues''. It is a place of harmony and consistency, in contrast to the uncertainty of the modern world.

* Literature/{{Child Ballad|s}}: The 2 volume version of their debut includes a version of ''False Knight on the Road''.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Their first music release, the self-titled EP, has a much more Beatles-influenced indie pop/rock sound compared to their later, much more well-known albums.
* EpicRocking: While most of their music is more folk than rock, some of their longer songs like "Ragged Wood" (5:07) "The Plains / Bitter Dancer" (5:54), and "The Shrine / An Argument" (8:07) allow more space for soloing and improvisation. Several songs feature {{modulation}} ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modulation_(music) That Other Wiki entry]]), meaning they feature key changes and seem to have the structure of two songs mashed together.
** The lead single for ''Crack-Up'', "Third of May / Ōdaigahara", tops "The Shrine / An Argument" in length, clocking in at 8:45. The title track (6:24) and "I Am All That I Need / Arroyo Seco / Thumbprint Scar" (6:25) also count.
* GratuitousJapanese: Of a sort. "Ōdaigahara" ("大台ヶ原" in kanji) is named after a mountain in Japan's Daikō Mountain Range.
* GratuitousSpanish: "Arroyo Seco" means "Dry Creek".
* {{Grief Song}}: "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song", possibly. Lines suggesting this include "Through the forest, down to your grave/Where the birds wait, and the tall grasses wave" and "Dear Shadow, alive and well, how can the body die?", as if the character is asking the spirit of the deceased why they left.

* {{Medley}} or SiameseTwinSongs: Tracks like "The Shrine / An Argument", "I Am All That I Need / I Am All That I Need / Arroyo Seco / Thumbprint Scar", and "Third of May / Ōdaigahara" could be considered examples of one or the other of these. They're each combined together as one track, but many times they feel more like two or more songs stuck together. "Cassius, -" and "- Naiads, Cassadies", on the other hand, is a more clear-cut example of Siamese Twin Songs, though actually, there aren't too many gaps on ''Crack-Up''; the first complete fade to silence is after "Third of May / Ōdaigahara", twenty-seven minutes into the album (though the ending of "Kept Woman", eighteen and a half minutes in, comes fairly close).

* MultipleHeadCase: The giant two-headed horned serpent from the music video for ''The Shrine / An Argument''. Appropriately enough, the two heads seem rather argumentative.
* NonAppearingTitle: Several, including "Blue Spotted Tail", "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" and "White Winter Hymnal".
* OurMonstersAreWeird: Some very bizarre creatures appear in the music video for ''The Shrine / An Argument''.

* ShoutOut: "Montezuma" contains a TitleDrop with the words "Oh man, what I used to be / Montezuma to Tripoli". This is a reference to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marines%27_Hymn Marine's Hymn"]], also known as "The Halls of Montezuma".

* SomethingBlues: "Helplessness Blues." Although it is not really a blues song.

* TitleDrop: Most of their songs do not feature the title in any prominent way, [[NonAppearingTitle assuming the title is even in the song at all]]. Often it is only a brief word or phrase that gives the song its name. Examples: "Blue Ridge Mountains", "Montezuma", "Sim Sala Bim" and "Helplessness Blues".
* ToTheTuneOf: "Lorelai" reuses part of the melody of Music/BobDylan's "4th Time Around" from ''Music/BlondeOnBlonde'', likely as a way to pay tribute to one of their major influences.

* SimSimSalabim: "Sim Sala Bim," obviously, though the song doesn't seem to specifically reference the stereotype, beyond the one line about a man reciting incantations.

* BadassBeard: Five out of six band members.

* CelebrityElegy: "Sunblind" is Robin Pecknold's tribute to musical influences of his who have died: [[Music/SilverJews David Berman]], Richard Swift, John Prine, Bill Withers, Music/ElliottSmith, Arthur Russell, Judee Sill, [[Music/BigStar Chris Bell]], Music/MarvinGaye, Music/NickDrake, Music/OtisRedding, Music/JeffBuckley, Duncan Brown, and "Curtis" (who Pecknold said refers to both Music/CurtisMayfield and [[Music/JoyDivision Ian Curtis]]).

After the second album and an exhausting tour, Pecknold made a quiet announcement in 2013 saying that the Foxes were on an indefinite hiatus. Pecknold started questioning if music was really his passion, wanting to maybe aim for a different career path. Then, in 2016 it was hinted that the Foxes were working on a new album and were back together. It was finally confirmed on Christmas day, with an expected 2017 release date.

* UncommonTime: "Battery Kinzie" jumps around between 4/4, 6/4, and a bit of 2/4, 3/4, and 5/4.

* BreakupBreakout: Former drummer Josh Tillman found success under the Father John Misty moniker after leaving the band.