Review 1

With the semi-recent accessibility of bands like The Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons, the folk/roots genre has gotten some much-deserved attention. What was once reserved for hippies and country people has become commonly heard on the radio. Some hipster-types might mourn the loss of their favorite band’s anonymity (I personally cannot stand the word sellout. Really, these musicians have to eat!), but this new popularity is great news for bands coming out of the rebirth of folk. Bands such as The Head and the Heart, Wild Child and The Lumineers have found a niche in which they can explore musical styles and not have to compete with pop music.

7.5 The Lumineers – The Lumineers

The Lumineers self-titled album, which was released April 3, is a work full of passionate, foot-stomping songs, akin to The Head and the Heart, but less harmonically complex. The band is a mash-up of East coasters and a Colorado native. Wesley Schultz, Jeremiah Fraites and Neyla Pekarek make up the band, but their songs often sound like a whole room is singing along, which is some of the magic of their raw-folk sound. 

The songs are intricately woven together and the album is very cohesive, but each song has its own sound, so listening to it all together doesn’t get monotonous.  The obvious choice for album favorite is “Ho Hey.” This song is a crowd-pleasing love song that most people can identify with. “I belong with you, you belong with me; you’re my sweetheart.”  This song is a mix of emotions that leads the listener into singing, shouting and stomping along—a perfect summer anthem. The song is a high point in the album and the track to get the most radio time but is arguably not the strongest song of the bunch.  My picks for best song are “Dead Sea,” “Big Parade” and “Stubborn Love.”

The album is good. Really, really good. This bunch of songs pulls heartstrings, gets people dancing and is a breath of fresh air for the music scene. Their folk sound is full of passion, and that is plain to hear. However, there is some deeper, emotional level that has yet to manifest itself into the music. The songs are lovely and catchy, even moving at times, but they just fall short of powerful. Perhaps on their second album, The Lumineers will come into their own and mature into a tour de force that connects with listeners on a more personal level than tales of love and loss can accomplish alone.  This album is one of my favorites as we dive into summer, and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next from the trio.