The Lumineers

The Lumineers recently transplanted from Brooklyn to Denver, but don't let that inform your opinions. Wesley and Jeremiah do not sound like the wave-catching hipsters associated with New York's hippest borough. No, these two sound honest and unadorned. Their self-titled EP is seven songs of what we're going to call...

By Kiernan Maletsky

April 15, 2010

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

The Lumineers recently transplanted from Brooklyn to Denver, but don't let that inform your opinions. Wesley and Jeremiah do not sound like the wave-catching hipsters associated with New York's hippest borough. No, these two sound honest and unadorned. Their self-titled EP is seven songs of what we're going to call orchestral folk. There's a lot of that going around, but this is a little different. Let's go to track four — "Gun Song," a simple slow-burner marching in a straight line to its peak, adding relentless guitar and anchored by piano — and its payoff lyric: "And one day/I pray/I'll be more than my father's son." That would be enough by itself, but the disc is top-to-bottom with that sort of wisdom. These guys know what they're doing — after all, they moved to Denver, didn't they?

KEEP WESTWORD FREE... Since we started Westword, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.