The phrase “arrived with their sound fully formed” gets thrown around so much that if music critique had their own annual list of banned phrases, it would surely appear in multiple editions. But when confronting Sun Giant, the debut EP by Seattle indie folk giants Fleet Foxes, there’s little else to say.

Their brand of halcyon, harmony heavy folk rock was so solidly their own here that when it was released as a bonus disc on the vinyl edition of their 2008 self-titled full length, the difference was hardly noticed unless you saw the copyright date. From the acapella Sun Giant (still among their most impressive achievements) to the pounding Mykonos, this EP did much more than hint at what was to come–it was a crystal ball, showing the future plainly.