Nelson's Dustin Stashko reviews the self-titled album by The Lumineers.
This is going to be a completely biased review. Why? Well, because I will always love heart-on-the-sleeve music. I’m talking about music that actually means something. It’s not that I’m depressed all the time and can commiserate with singers/songwriters and cry into my beer (or cheap wine most likely made from potatoes), but quite the opposite. It pleases me to know that others can actually evoke their words and feeling into music that they put their heart and soul into. What a beautiful talent to have. The Lumineers have that, in spades.
The Lumineers are a roots revival band from Colorado, consisting of three people: a guitar player/singer, a drummer, and a cello player. It doesn’t seem like they’d be able to make some of the sounds that they do, but they pull it off and sometimes it sounds like an eight piece folk band. Their self-titled album is full of heartfelt/quotable lyrics, and pleasant sounds from a cello to round things off.
Every SINGLE song on this album is as great as the last one, and has either a lyric that will stick with you for ages, or a drum beat that will have you stomping your feet.
Classy Girls has one of the most honest lyrics that everyone should pay attention to. “Classy girls don’t kiss in bars... you fool”.
You know when you a hear a song for the first time and immediately fall in love with it? Well when my ears first stumbled upon Ho Hey.... It was like they removed their clothes in a furious pace, made passionate love with each other, and proceeded to snuggle in the afterglow until they fell asleep. I’m sure your ears might have some different things in mind, like maybe going for a nice spaghetti dinner and settling for a kiss on the porch... But mine don’t think about the consequences. I listened to the song a solid 50 times in the course of one day, and I’m still not sick of it. That says a lot about the song. This is a pop gem that will be blasting on everybody’s radio this summer. Download it now.
Big Parade has hand claps! If you don’t like hand claps in songs you should seriously re-consider things about your life. Anyways, the song’s a classic ballad that tells the story of politicians, beauty queens, priests, and a rock and roller. It’ll captivate you all the way until the last note hits your ears (that are still reeling from the love affair).
On Flapper Girl we hear singer Welsey Schultz singing about how naive girls can be, when they think cutting off all their hair will make everything change and add some bright to their lives. As the song progresses, you realize he was a part of her life, and just like the hair on the floor... he’s gone from it. He still wants to be that light in her life that has no room for him. It’s these kinds of lyrics and attention that will draw you to this album.
I could go into great detail about every single song but, “Brevity is the soul of wit.”
Instead, I’ll leave you with this bold statement: This band is going to be big, Mumford and Sons big.
Get your hands on this album. It’s my favourite musical discovery of the year. This really should be how everybody listens to music, with a big fat grin.