Why does everyone love mumford and sons

In their place are simple harmonies, pretty piano lines, banjo, and a dobro. This is an album of pretty music, and it can be fun music, too.

But considering that the band members so clearly have the ears for huge, catchy melodies—and so many people listening—such a fearful retreat from more considered, varied songwriting is a sorely missed opportunity. Support Local Journalism. Join Riverfront Times Press Club. Babel , the second release by the English folk quartet Mumford and Sons, is in its third week atop the Billboard Album chart. This surely makes their parents and accountants happy, but the fact that such luminaries as Matchbox Twenty, Linkin Park and the Zac Brown Band have recently held this spot demonstrates the diminished luster of this title.

In an era of singles, playlists and short attention spans, the album is becoming a marginalized format. However, to sell more of them than anyone in the country is not insignificant, and for the week ending October 20, Mumford and Sons accomplished this.

The band also recently appeared on Saturday Night Live , has been at or near the top of the bill at several prominent summer festivals and has regularly sold out shows across the country over the last couple years, including at the Pageant in June If Mumford and Sons were any hotter, Starbucks would sell them in liquid form.

It seems like something more is brewing with this band, that it is developing a following of enthusiastic devotees that in time could blossom into a Phish-type entourage. But does the music carpet match the hype drapes? I have listened to Babel several times and it is fine -- at times even good. Mumford and Sons play with great passion and intensity, and tell stories based on universal themes such as love and longing, faith and religion and the struggles and challenges of life. The band also falls into a repetitive structure of a tepid, contemplative opening slowly building to a rollicking crescendo of any stringed instruments it has on hand at the time.

It starts to seem like you heard the same song several times when you play the album in its entirety. Folk or folk-rock doesn't typically fare well in the pop-dominated charts. So, what is it about Mumford and Sons that resonates with so many? I can offer up a few theories: Full text. Tags: Fiesta!

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The Latest. The Scottie Barnes Revolution Is Under Way in Toronto After their worst season in a decade snapped a seven-year playoff streak, the Raptors could be right back in the mix with the emergence of the no. So part of me wants to give the band credit for being self-aware enough to have a bunch of funny comedians illustrate that the band is in on the joke and understands that what they do might be considered obnoxious.

But then after I think about that for a minute, my brain realizes that is bullshit. I'm a kid who grew up loving folk music. I still will argue that Bob Dylan is the greatest songwriter of our time, and that Self-Portrait is his best record and incredibly underrated.

I'll argue that folk music can tap into a side of humanity that we all must appreciate and engage with in order to learn about ourselves, about why we think the way we do, and about what that all means. So are we really going to allow a band that has bastardized this genre and makes shitty music and makes a lot of money bastardizing the genre and making shitty music off the hook simply because they showed a little self-awareness?

This is something that we should not do. This music video, like the band's music, was—no question—calculated down to the amount of hay bales in the barn in which the band performed. Yesterday, after the video went viral, Vulture had already run a post of it in "in 5 GIFs. These guys are funny! Somebody get these guys an award, because they have courage , right? Self-awareness can only carry the candle so far, because at the end of the day, this is bad music, and this is a band that's making a lot of money while creating bad music.

And you know what is most obnoxious about all of this obnoxiousness? What is actually more problematic than the fact that these guys create bad music?