Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)

Just two months after dropping the stunning Sun Giant EP, Seattle folkies Fleet Foxes are back at it with an equally awe-inducing self-titled long player. Sticking with the strong vocal presence of its predecessor, Fleet Foxes kicks off with an a cappella, Western-styled four-part harmony on “Sun It Rises” before desert-soaked acoustic guitars and church organ bring things to a spacey conclusion. Toeing the line between mid-’70s California country and the soundtrack to an old Roy Rogers flick, “White Winter Hymnal” unfolds like a breezy travelogue; “I was following the pack all swallowed in their coats with scarves of red tied ’round their throats,” a cooing cascade of voices sings on the mellow track.

While the bulk of the 11-song disc sees Fleet Foxes embracing hair-raising choral and instrumental arrangements, “Heard Them Stirring” swells with a wordless succession of oohs, pounding timpani, and a background of blaring banjo and piano, showing that the band can be just as inspiring when it strips things down. The relaxed nylon-string guitar plucking on “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” leaves ample room for lead Fox Robin Pecknold to showcase his gentle tenor.

Taking cues from classic rock and ol’ timey country songs, Fleet Foxes’ latest shows a young group already mastering its craft.