When
Justin Vernon left Raleigh, North Carolina by way of Eau Claire, Wisconsin indie folkers
DeYarmond Edison to go on to late-2000s indie wunderkind status as
Bon Iver, the remaining members of
DE --
Phil Cook, Brad Cook, and
Joe Westerlund -- carried on in North Carolina as
Megafaun. With an impossible to pinpoint, laid-back lo-fi sound incorporating
Byrds-esque harmonies, elegiac folk picking, and off-kilter instrumentation (think a rougher around the edges
Fleet Foxes),
Megafaun earned accolades beyond their feted former bandmate. The trio gained solid enough reviews for the sparse debut disc
Bury the Square in 2008; however,
Megafaun's sophomore release the next year,
Gather, Form & Fly, on the Hometapes label, drew raves, with high marks from the Onion AV Club and Pitchfork. The mini-LP
Heretofore arrived in 2010, followed by the band's eponymous third full-length outing in 2011. ~ Jason Thurston