Using the 140 characters of a Twitter stream as a judge of someone's emotional state is, at best, a bit dubious. Watching Fleet Foxes singer Robin Pecknold's thought process as the band recorded their second record (Helplessness Blues), you could see an artist consumed with public expectations in real time, the fifth wall broken down via our good friend, Mr. Internet. Not only was Pecknold dealing with those nagging, whispering voices of publicly broadcast sophomore slump by the very blogs that shouted his band's name to the high heavens in 2008, but dealing with the still-burning embers of a breakup and the kind overwhelming ennui and existentialism that grows rampant in our mid 20's/early 30's; the kind of perpetually whirring, restless motor that keeps us awake in the deadest, bluest parts of night.

Those same 140 characters led 300 Twitter-savvy folks to the Columbia City Theatre Thursday night to see the Fleet Foxes start the journey of proving their sophomore record, the yet-released Helplessness Blues. While singer Robin Pecknold immediately put out the disclaimer that the band hadn't performed in over a year and a half, the few rusty moments (a couple creaky vocal parts here and there, and a few moments of too much organ in the mix) were forgivable from the moment the band started out with the lush instrumental "The Cascades".