Today I learned from reading a local weekly newspaper that Fleet Foxes are “innovative.” Now, you can say a lot of things about Fleet Foxes, but one of the last adjectives I would use to describe them is “innovative.” Pleasant, euphonious, earnest, gentle, rootsy, bucolic, technically proficient—yes. Innovative? No. Various dictionary definitions for "innovative" include “being or producing something like nothing done or experienced or created before; ahead of the times; using or showing new methods, ideas.”

But maybe I’m offbase. Perhaps Fleet Foxes are blazing new trails in rock and I’m too dense to discern it. So let’s do a poll to determine once and for all if Fleet Foxes are innovative.

• Kelly O

Already the anonymous vitriol is boiling:

• Obviously written by the same person

Join the fun here!

2) "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" by Kate Bush
The blame for this tune's stuckness is the hipster who played the Chromatic's version of it at The Unicorn on February 25, 2011 (I tagged it on my Shazam).

3)"Forget Me Nots" by Patrice Rushen
I will never get that wonderful tune out of my head, and nor do I want it go.

4) "Blue Ridge Mountains" by Fleet Foxes
The person who holds the blame for this dreamy tune is Ross Beamish, who plays with Yuni in Taxco. Ross played the tune while working at Caffé Vita in Pioneer Square. The line I can no longer get out of my head: "And the river was frozen..."

5) "Xanadu" by Olivia Newton John
I heard this tune two days ago while watching the splendid documentary Los Angeles Plays Itself. The documentary is 3 hours long; the tune might be in my head forever. If I had not heard it on Sunday, then "Rapper's Delight" would have been number five today: "The women fight for my delight." Indeed, a penis is a delightful thing.

Fleet Foxes lead singer/guitarist Robin Pecknold has put up on eBay a test pressing of the band's forthcoming album, Helplessness Blues, to help raise funds for the GlobalGiving Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. Helplessness Blues comes out May 3 on Sub Pop.

"This is a double vinyl, so you'll receive two records, one with sides A & B and one with sides C & D," Pecknold explains on the eBay page. "We'll include a little note with like tracklisting and other information."

The total is currently at $1,525, with a little over six days to go in the auction (it closes Mon. March 28 at 1:02 pm Pacific Time). Go here to bid.

Last Friday instead of going to the Nobunny show, Sarah Moody and I drove to Port Townsend, WA. When I moved to Seattle, nobody at all informed me of the totally weird and ruling music scene in Port Townsend. We arrived in town and went directly to a bar called Sirens. It was around midnight and we were just in time to see a G.G. Allin spacerock cover band called GG ALIEN. Essentially it was 3 dudes and a girl and they had fake crummy G.G. Allin tattoos and they played G.G. Allin songs but would medley them with Hawkwind, Von LMO, Zolar X, Jobriath, etc. Also, they'd punch each other in the face in the middle of the songs. The bar was 1/2 full and nobody really seemed to understand what was happening. I saw a flier for the show and apparently we'd missed another band called TOMBS FROM THE CRYPT which was a Rocket From The Crypt / Rocket From The Tombs cover band. I fully intend to move to Port Townsend to finally start a Motley Cure cover band. "Too Young To Fall (Friday I'm) In Love," ETC.

• Always Was Is and Always Shall Be(ings from outer space).

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To fulfill the wish of Line Out commenter ndrwmtsn, I post the sentence in the subject line.

And seriously, let me repeat, deep congrats to Fleet Foxes and Sub Pop and Phil Ek for writing, creating, and releasing a record that thrilled the shit out of people all over the world and will, for many music fans, be the record to remember 2008 by.

(Also, the perverse flipside to nrdwmstn's claim that not enough folks are willing to admit to enjoying Fleet Foxes is the fact that Fleet Foxes are immensely enjoyable. Your sulky teenaged niece will love them, your Dylan-loving dad will love them (if he isn't overly bugged by the too-diffuse ren-faire lyrics), and if you're looking for an easy way to support local businesses and local artists this holiday season, you could very well buy a copy of Fleet Foxes for every single person on your shopping list.)

It's the splashiest win yet in the Fleet Foxes' year-end victory lap. Congrats to the bearded wonder boys (as well as Sub Pop and Phil Ek) and confidential to everyone who believes Fleet Foxes has more to offer than Dear Science: You're insane.