Mumford & Sons (2016)

One Liner: Rootsy Folk Revivalist Kings! (if you ignore that 2015 album)

Poster Position: 1

Thoughts:  Look, I get it.  That last album (2015's Wilder Mind) was disappointing.  But people need to chill out about the hate.  One album where these guys branch out and try a different sound shouldn't somehow invalidate the two albums of really excellent and kick ass music that they put together before then.  I know someone can likely argue with me about the genesis of the throwback stomping roots folk rock movement, but to me its these guys.  And they did it with no warning, just a guerrilla attack blast of banjo and emotionally-charged power.  When "Little Lion Man" started getting alternative radio play, from 2009's Sigh No More, I think we were all kind of confused about what was going on, and then you found yourself standing on top of your Accord, ripping off your shirt, pumping your fist, and yelling about how you really f'ed it up this time.

That chorus, and then the soaring aaaaaahhhhhaaaaaahhhaaaaaaa! in the middle are just so great.  And they still feel real and unsullied after several years and a load of copy cats. That one clocks in at 124.5 million streams on Spotify, which is only good for second place on their list.  I actually would have expected that "The Cave" to be the top track off of that album, but it only fires up 118.8 million listens.  The banjo speed on that track is impressive. But that album was massively popular, selling enough to become more than 3x platinum in the U.S. and similarly huge in other countries.

The second album, 2012's Babel, didn't sell as many copies, but won the Grammy for Album of the Year and felt even bigger than the first disc.  They didn't stray from the original formula, sticking to fist pumping banjo rock and earnest lyrics with great sing-along choruses.  The big hit from this album, and the band's biggest track overall, is "I Will Wait," with over 150.5 million streams.

I have a special spot in my heart for that song because when my youngest kiddo was still very small, that was about the only song she knew the lyrics to and it was damn cute when she would repeat along with it in the back seat of the 'burb as we tooled around life.  Anyway, Babel picks up right where Sigh left off and is excellent.  I can get it if you don't like rock or dislike bluegrass or whatever, but it is hard to deny the propulsive joy I feel when I hear these songs.

And then the third album.  Oh, that third album.  As I said in my original review of the album, it isn't actually bad music, its just disappointing because of the legacy created by this band. If this album had been released under a pseudonym, no one would have noticed it because it is generically blah, but people wouldn't have crapped all over it either.  Just another middling soft rock album in a pile of eight billion that have disappeared into history.  But because it was Mumford, and they turned their back on their core sound and style, everybody hated it.  I just read something in Rolling Stone where one of the band members said they could have made Sign No More 2, but then they all would have been depressed. I don't know, man, is it better to be depressed because fans and critics alike hate your new album, or to be depressed because your massively popular third album just won some more Grammys and created world peace?
My assumption is that they wouldn't make their set all about the new album, but then again I figure they will introduce a few of these songs. From looking at setlist.fm, it looks like we can expect to hear "Snake Eyes," "The Wolf," "Believe," "Only Love," "Wilder Mind," and "Tompkins Square Park," so maybe a third of the set will be the new songs.  More than I expected.  But I suppose things could change when they are not on their official "Wilder Mind" tour.  We shall see.

And since that weak third album, they just recently decided to go even further afield from their original sound and go full on Paul Simon and give their music the Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints treatment.  A short five song EP called Johannesburg came out a few weeks ago, and is actually really enjoyable.  Of course, I am a sucker for Graceland and even facsimiles of Graceland (like Vampire Weekend), so this one hits a sweet spot for me.  The EP was a project with Baaba Maal ("legendary Senegalese singer"), The Very Best ("Swedish-Malawian" "electronic pop collective"), and Beatenberg ("South African pop trio"), hammered out when Mumford & Sons toured down to South Africa and decided to make something with all of these disparate artists. I get that some people may continue to crap on the band here, for a imperialistic appropriation of sounds or sonic tourism or whatever, but if anyone seems earnest and real about just wanting to join up with these people and make music, its these guys.  Screw it, I like these songs.  The album opener is "There Will Be Time."

I see the poor banjo guy picking at his axe during that video, but I can't say that I hear any of the old school banjo-fied soul Mumford, but you definitely get the fist-pumpingly earnest sing-along that honestly just gave me goosebumps in watching that video.  The second track, "Wona" sounds just like Vampire Weekend to me.  I couldn't find who sang it in a 3 second google search, but if it isn't Ezra Keonig I'd be surprised.  And then the closer, "Si Tu Veux" is a real beauty.

I've been bummed for years that I missed out on a special show they did in Austin.  They had a show with the Austin High Band, in which I was a player back 20 something years ago.  

Man, I wanted to be part of the drum line something fierce.  And I think this was part of this cool tour they did where they traveled across the country on a train (the Railroad Revival Tour) and played shows with Edward Sharpe and Old Crow Medicine Show from the train. Sounded so cool.  But I missed out on that.  I don't plan to miss out on them at the Festival this fall.  Excited for the show.