Album Review: The Lumineers

By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com)The Lumineers The Lumineers ****For the folks that saw this Denver-based trio at Eleanor’s in 2010, it was perhaps the early sparks of what would eventually evolve into a heart-swelling, stomp-and-clap pop-folk collaboration that is their eponymous debut. To give you a frame of reference, The Lumineers reportedly played the songs from its self-recorded EP, only to round out the set with “unfortunate cover songs,” as one JH Weekly writer stated. As is often said, you’ve got to start somewhere, and where The Lumineers have gone in the past year are big places. The songs are honest, sassy even; and stripped down to predominantly acoustic guitar, cello, subtle drums/percussion, and voices. Released on Dualtone Records in April, I doubt if there is another album of this simplicity in 2012 that will reach No. 17 on the Billboard Chart. Songs “Flowers in Your Hair” and “Ho Hey” have become lodged in my head, the latter tune being used in a national Bing commercial that is currently in heavy rotation. The musicality that is fused from isolation and adversity reminds me of another raw revelation writer from Denver Nathaniel Rateliff.