The Lumineers

I don't entirely hate this kind of music -- rousing sing-alongs can sometimes be catchy -- but the aesthetic as a whole is definitely hard to embrace.

most of that first record, at least, sounds like it's from the 60s.
--Johnny Fever

are you suggesting that e.g. Lumineers/Of Monsters and Men sound old-timey? bc to these ears they sound a lot like "home"

it's funny that there have now been 6 different posters using the phrase "old timey" itt but nobody has traced this trend back to the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack at all yet.

6 different posters including me, i should say

[3) guy on the right just needs a different face altogether,

lol

it's funny that there have now been 6 different posters using the phrase "old timey" itt but nobody has traced this trend back to the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack at all yet.

― big yansh theory (some dude), Tuesday, 22 January 2013 21:05 (3 minutes ago) Permalink

Believe it or not, the following stream of thought went through my head "Haha, yeah, slavery. I should post something about how they should ironically drive railroad spikes or break rocks with hammers on the "hey / ho" part. Wait, does something like that happen in O Brother Where Art Thou? Oh yeah, O Brother Where Art Thou."

are you suggesting that e.g. Lumineers/Of Monsters and Men sound old-timey? bc to these ears they sound a lot like "home"

No, I'm saying that most of the Edward Sharpe debut doesn't sound like "Home".

No, I'm saying that most of the Edward Sharpe debut doesn't sound like "Home".
--Johnny Fever

Oh. Right. Well, carry on then :)

The worst part is that I know and love lots of people who like music like this, and I can't explain to them why I hate it. I think we could also consider adding Ryan Gosling and his chorus of children to this group too.

My friends and I have labeled this stuff "goat folk" due to the vocal stylings. I tend to parse the meaning of each song as "somebody took my mandolin and now I feel ba-a-a-a-a-a-a-ad"

hahah

lol looks like denver is officially the center of the faux-lk movement.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/arts/music/the-lumineers-strange-road-to-the-top-10.html?pagewanted=all
"(Mr. Fraites had already begun wearing his trademark suspenders.)"

Therefore I BLAME YOU.

first the broncos now this

FUCK YOU DENVER

i have a really hard time not thinking of the lumineers as a band made up of special-needs ppl

i'm gonna ride this gravy train all the way to the moon motherfuckers. where can i get some suspenders and a mandolin.

a lotta gems in that article--
“It’s really short and catchy, and people can remember it after they’ve heard it once or twice,” said John Ivey, senior vice president for programming at the Clear Channel radio chain and program director of KIIS-FM in Los Angeles.
^^^this guy has figured it OUT.

*adds John Ivey to hitlist*

With its folksy guitar and its foot-stamping, tambourine-driven beat “Ho Hey” arrived as a startling anomaly in the pop Top 10, where it’s surrounded by Auto-Tuned voices and electronic beats...It’s one more hint of a pendulum swing back toward naturalism in pop.

when this pendulum hits 2*Pi phase, please hand me my revolver

lol "naturalism" -- surely the Lumineers are bigger fakes than any autotuned recording star

they are named after a fake tooth product!

how could they represent anything natural?!

the lumineers CD was in the box at the end of Seven. They are the embodiment of human rage

OK, so we've probably discussed this already, but all this minor-key mining, hat-wearing, suspenders-suspendin', kick-drum kickin', guitar-strummin', wordless-chorus yelping stuff - this, Mumford, Of Monsters and Men and probably a bunch of other stuff on the radio - this is all the Arcade Fire's fault, right? I love the Arcade Fire, tbh, and think they're much more than this, but man, their impact has been as destructive as U2's.

Everybody in these bands, man and woman alike, reminds me of:

http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/files/2009/05/blossom.jpg

keep thinking thread title says lumerians, who are infinity better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG_QFQq65t0

i am very cross at this "two dudes wearing hats" business, it's either one dude wears a hat or all three of them wear hats, no splitting the difference. i vote the suspenders guy gets to wear the hat, the other guy can coast on his vaguely cary elwes-esque looks.

lumerians is good, best thing to come out of this lumineers thing

lol "naturalism" -- surely the Lumineers are bigger fakes than any autotuned recording star

― ron paulstretch (crüt), Wednesday, 6 February 2013 19:12 (6 days ago) Permalink

I think that comment (which I don't disagree with) indicates what I've skimmed to be the overriding complaint against the Lumineers, which is that they're merely branding/positioning themselves in some sort of idyllic and fake (to be charitable) musical setting. But I don't know - the beginning of that article linked to toward the top,

"The Lumineers are simply superb, which is the reason they are the focus of this installment of Lyrical Life Lessons. Seriously, listening to them makes me want to learn to play a unique, unappreciated instrument like the banjo and beg to be a part of their front porch-loving indie rock trio."

doesn't make me think that they're normatively 'bad'. I'm not a fan of their music from what I can tell, but I also don't think that there's anything especially holy about listening to Replacements or VU or even Kanye West and then being inspired to go out and start a band or start producing music.

The sheer artifice of the Lumineers (which again from what I can tell, as in I don't claim to be an expert on them since I only saw photos of their Grammy performance and listened to the one song once on YouTube) seems to be quite up front. Are they not more honestly shitgrinning than Kings of Leon, who were once pretty respected (I think?) and who subsequently fell off/got super popular around the same time that their back story was debunked (from what I recall)? I'm doing something I don't really like doing, which is to 'speak up' for something, as it were, just for the sake of it. But it does seem to me that the choices they make are choices, just like anyone else, and it seems like they're being criticized for their 'choiceness', as if the guy from Fiery Furnaces hasn't made some obvious choices about presentation and aesthetics. (Which I say just because that's what I'm listening to right at this moment.)

tbh i have no business snarking on the lumineers because of their outfits -- i love bob dylan, the band etc. and those dudes are the kings of let's-play-americana-dress-up. it's all BS ultimately. instead, i'll just dislike the lumineers' music. it is boring and annoying. and josh otm about arcade fire, they have destroyed rock n roll for a whole generation.

The "naturalism" part is more a criticism of the article's author. Don't know if the lumineers themselves lack self awareness about their act. But their music sure is bad.

Given that I like a fair bit of '80s-'90s alt-country and couldn't care less about authenticity or w/e, I can only attribute my aversion to Mumford/Lumineers/Civil Wars/etc to the basic weakness of the tunes and stultifying harmonies.

Which, btw, the harmonies are sort of key here -- they do derive straight from pallid coffeehouse folk, not bluegrass/country. There's no high lonesome there at all.

thread worth it for introducing me to the Lumerians

It's not just the lack of high lonesome or whatever, it's the phony inorganic dynamics of it (ie bluster) that plays up anthem-ness at the expense of craft. It's all about cheap moves for the benefit of the cheap seats. A famous comparison would be Dolly's version of "I WIll Always Love You" vs. Whitney's. I don't mind Whitney's, really, but subtle it is not, and the subtly and restraint of Dolly's is pretty incredible in retrospect.

Also, these dorks clearly all woke up one morning, set aside their Coldplay records, then went shopping for hats, suspenders and two-day face scruff.

yes i am enjoying those guys xp

http://i45.tinypic.com/iy34va.jpg

Iiieeeeiiiiii willl wait for yoooooouuuuuuuu

please don't desecrate whitney's memory w/ suspenders
(also lol)

hahah!

i like lumerians a lot, but it's hard to top the original version of that song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS8ZfVTE4SM

Further evidence for the theory that Arcade Fire (who I also love) have inadvertently ruined everything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoRkntoHkIE

that's equal parts Arcade Fire and Dave Matthews, judging from the American Idol performances I caught of him

the oh's sound distinctively coldplay to me

Well Coldplay only stepped up the woah-oh-ohs after the first Arcade Fire album.

Totally. Markus Dravs worked on "Neon Bible," which he followed by working on "Viva La Vida" as well as, later, both Mumford records. From his wiki entry:

"He has also worked with Coldplay on their 2008 album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. According to Markus: "Chris Martin called me and told me he had a conversation with Win Butler, who suggested, 'He’ll kick you into shape' which was poetic for 'He will do his utmost in helping you to develop your artistic horizon.'"

Case closed.

Or wait, does that mean Markus Dravs broke music?

"Originally based in Ramsey, New Jersey, they later moved to New York City. After battling the city's cutthroat music scene and high cost of living, the two decided to expand their horizons. They packed up and headed for Denver, Colorado."

- wikipedia

"He will d-ooOOoo his utm-Oh-st in helping you-oooh-OOOh to develop your artistic horiz-Oh-oh-OHHHHHHHH oh-oh oh-OHHHHHHHHHn"

According to Markus: "Chris Martin called me and told me he had a conversation with Win Butler, who suggested, 'He’ll kick you into shape' which was poetic for 'He will do his utmost in helping you to develop your artistic horizon.'"

Good christ, an unholy trinity of horror.

"NEEDS MORE YODELLING."

"Yeah but--"

"I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU AND I WILL BEAT YOUR ASS."