Sun Giant by Fleet Foxes

Sun Giant, the second EP from Seattle's Fleet Foxes, came out on April 8, 2008, through Sub Pop and Bella Union, and it was never meant to be much more than something to sell off the merch table. The band cut it after finishing their debut LP, planned it as a tour-only item, and only let it into shops when fans kept asking, insisting all the while that it said nothing about where they were headed.

Nobody believed them. Robin Pecknold's voice rings out like it's bouncing off a canyon wall, Skyler Skjelset's guitar and Casey Wescott's keyboards keep things woody and warm, and the harmonies stack up like hymns in a country church. "Mykonos" is the standout, a galloping folk-rock rush with a chorus that keeps climbing. Critics lavished praise on it, and it ended up sharing best-album-of-the-year honours in 2008 with the self-titled record that followed it into stores.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.