The year 2012 was a breakout year for Indie-folk darlings, The Lumineers. The trio from Denver, Colorado, managed to reach No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with a hit single that contains little more than an acoustic guitar, a mandolin, and a foot-stomping declaration of love. “Ho Hey” marched its way into several major television shows, advertisements, and best-of lists for 2012, and has garnered attention for The Lumineers and their first album.
Following up on a sound they previewed in their Tracks From The Attic EP, their self-titled debut album, The Lumineers, is the group’s full-length take on the “roots-revival” sound that has seen an upsurge in popularity over the past few years. Since the 1960s and 1970s, influential artists like Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, and Joni Mitchell (particularly her earlier masterpieces “Ladies of the Canyon” and “Blue”) have made this folky, mostly acoustic style of music famous around the world.
Today, with a host of bands carrying on the folk-pop torch, the sound has evolved, and popular bands like Mumford & Sons (listen to “Little Lion Man”), Bon Iver (“Towers”), and Of Monsters and Men (“Dirty Paws”) all make music that draws from folky roots, but has been updated with a sleeker, more modern sound.
The Lumineers, however, seem to be after a distilled representation of the modern folk sound. Whereas the groups mentioned above have larger lineups and often reach for epic, quasi-symphonic grandeur, the songs on The Lumineers maintain a stripped-down restraint and simplicity in their arrangements. It’s as if they want to rid the music of any excess, trimming the fat to get right to the heart of each song’s message.
This “no-nonsense” ethic is echoed in the natural recording approach used on the album. Wesley Schultz’s vocals are mostly left raw and untouched, which won’t suit every listener, especially those accustomed to the studio wizardry that has run amok in much of modern music. Many of the songs on The Lumineers give the impression of a microphone placed in the room without the band even knowing it. The result is a raw and honest portrayal of the band and a charming collection of songs that center on catchy melodies and lyrics.
If there is a recurring theme in the album, it is a yearning to break through the social isolation of modern life. Bands like Radiohead and Muse regularly visit that topic, but never with the optimistic disposition of The Lumineers.
Other songs like “Flowers In Your Hair” and “Classy Girls” feature sticky melodic hooks that are guaranteed to be echoing in your head for days. The Dylan-esque “Flowers,” (see if you don’t hear traces of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”) starts the album off with a coming-of-age love tale that is charming, even if the song feels too short.
“Classy Girls” is The Lumineers’ version of a club banger, but with the ubiquitous techno thump replaced with a country two-beat rhythm. Sweet lyrics tell of an innocent encounter with a girl in a bar and stand in stark contrast to those found in typical party anthems by pop divas like Ke$ha or Katy Perry. “Classy girls don’t kiss in bars, you fool,” sounds like your grandparents’ first-date compared with Rihanna’s “Sticks and stones may break my bones but whips and chains excite me.”
Other highlights on the record include the quaint and quirky “Submarines,” which sounds like it belongs in a Wes Anderson film. “Stubborn Love” continues the theme of repetitious, sing-song-y refrains, this time building to the kind of sing-along climax that Coldplay has mastered in songs like “Viva La Vida.”
One may be tempted to write off The Lumineers as a hipster throwback band, but the down-to-earth sincerity in the record is universal enough that you don’t need wide-rimmed glasses and skinny jeans to relate to it. The Lumineers don’t make music for the ego - they go straight for the heart.
