The Lumineers

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."

According to Tojo: "Mussolini called me and told me he had a conversation with Hitler, 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 that they translate, I don't speak poetic

It's all about cheap moves for the benefit of the cheap seats.

I could understand it all more if I could actually discern the cheap moves, or any moves at all. What confuses me is that the music seems so inert but elicits such enthusiasm. I had firsthand experience with this, wading through an unbelievably huge Mumford crowd at Bonnaroo (I was trying to get to another, much smaller stage, where Loretta Lynn was playing). I heard about 10 minutes of Mumford's set, and it was such a weird disconnect between the dead air coming from the stage and the obviously very sincere excitement of the kids on the lawn.

Which is to say, it obviously works for somebody. But it operates at a frequency I can't hear.

If anything I'd credit the relative lack of dead air. I've seen Mumford, too, and I was struck by how every single one of their songs featured some broad, shout-along, (frequently wordless) chorus, and wasted no time getting there. Didn't require a lot of actual listening from the crowd. In fact, when I saw them they tried to do an acoustic set mid-show, un-amplified at the front of the stage, and the fans were so loud and disruptive they pretty much had to cut it short. "I Will Wait," indeed. These dudes don't make you wait at all. There's no drama at all. The music is all bluster. Or as I once wrote in a review: "Mumford & Sons’ sophomore release “Babel” doesn’t hit any beats that its smash debut “Sigh No More” failed to hit. “Beat,” of course, being the operative word here, as Mumford & Sons’ M.O. has thus far been to over-inflate boilerplate folk and roots cliches to anthem size and beat you over the head with them."

Yeah, I guess that's true. But it's like being beat over the head with puff balls. I barely notice it's happening.

woah i didn't know you were into puffing, no judgement here

Ho (puff)
Hey (puff)

Time for me to post. I have more to do with fashion than music, but do fashion for music peeps... Including, (for fifteen minutes (at least) the fucktards. #1. They did not show at their post grammy celebration, which leads me to believe they actually thought they had more talent than others nominated... In the Americana category, they lost to a legend and a soon to be legend... (John fullbright) and really: best new artist? Only one worse than fun. Would have been the lumineers. Keep it up guys. "Jer" you look like a carnie, Wes, you look like a semi attractive dumbass, Neyla : good gosh please stop incessantly trying to pull off the moo- moo. And for the love... Please let someone else do your hair and makeup. Kidz bopz 2012 will certainly have the more "rockin" version of "ho hey" as their fist track. Can we rename it "hey ho's (please write something original)?

Also, their "timely" new Wes/Neyla duet reeks of shit and desperation, but thank goodness they got the supremely ugly dude out of it. Only thing worse than his suspenders is his "Jerry's kids" outfit for Grammys.
Swallowing vomit

Lumerians rule.

Kidz bopz 2012 will certainly have the more "rockin" version of "ho hey" as their fist track.

hahaha

There's a sociology essay out there for someone who can trace the through-line between all this campfire stadium rock, the Jesse Thorn Axis of Overly Mannered Urbane Hipsters, and Manic Pixie Dream Girls. I'm too tired to do it myself and it would just sound like conspiracy theory.

At least Too-Rye-Ay had some great songs on it.

Lumerians rule

Let me fix that for you...

LUMERIANS RULE!!!

ok much better

There's a sociology essay out there for someone who can trace the through-line between all this campfire stadium rock, the Jesse Thorn Axis of Overly Mannered Urbane Hipsters, and Manic Pixie Dream Girls.

Basically:

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

to/plus

http://www.cinecultist.com/archives/natalie_portman_garden_state_interview_top.jpg

Hey guys, can we play, too?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I14nsKf1sb8

My coworker is going to psychfest, has added lumerians to his list to see. all thanks to the lumineers.

"Hey, Soul Sister" kinda feels like the unofficial beginning of this trend, that was really the only 'acoustic' song on pop radio besides Taylor Swift for a while before the Lumineers/Phillip Phillips/Ed Sheeran onslaught

Good call. But, for all the surprise and confusion over where the Lumineers' hobo/suspenders/dumb hats image came from, Taylor was mining the same kind of Depression Chic in her "Mean" video. You could also go back to R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" video, where they incorporated a mandolin and dressed up in pseudo-Amish costumes for another example of the same vibe. People trying to find some contemporary meaning ("They're dressing like hobos because their generation got screwed by the financial crisis") in the Lumineers' image need to step back and recognize that this kind of acoustic folk revival has been part of pop music since The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, at least. Gillian Welch is a good example of a 90s artist who put forth the same sort of Dust Bowl image as the Lumineers (although she was a much better songwriter, in my opinion). But there's nothing new under the sun.

Eh, I dunno. There was always all that Jack Johnson hammock rock before "Hey Soul Sister."

wtf is this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4Cnm0tdkJEU#!

dammit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Cnm0tdkJEU

You could also go back to R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" video, where they incorporated a mandolin and dressed up in pseudo-Amish costumes for another example of the same vibe... Gillian Welch is a good example of a 90s artist who put forth the same sort of Dust Bowl image as the Lumineers (although she was a much better songwriter, in my opinion)
--Driver 8

straight trollin'

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.

yeah, I was gonna say. these dudes were like 18 when that movie came out. formative experience obviously.

blimey @ the article linked in the OP

Yeah, 'codswallop' is too kind a word, really.

"Hey, Soul Sister" kinda feels like the unofficial beginning of this trend, that was really the only 'acoustic' song on pop radio besides Taylor Swift for a while before the Lumineers/Phillip Phillips/Ed Sheeran onslaught

Eh, I dunno. There was always all that Jack Johnson hammock rock before "Hey Soul Sister."

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, February 13, 2013 7:20 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

well i was talking about like top 40 radio -- Jack Johnson never had a "Hey Soul Sister" or "Ho Hey"-level pop hit, and when he did peaked it was around the James Blunt era of acoustic hits, before the lull and recent influx of acoustic stuff.

One of the guys, Espen, who's like a huge star in Norway, picked up a ukulele, and said, 'Hey, how about this?' I said, 'Are you (kidding) me?' And it made the difference. It made my words dance. It made sense. These words were meant to dance with ukulele and not guitar.