Hockey playoffs have begun and so I am all in cheering for my beloved Boston Bruins. Tonight was a loss, and we’re now tied 1-1 in the series against the (recently) hate-able Florida Panthers.
On the plus side, I change jerseys after every loss, and that long winning streak was making my #6 Joe Thornton jersey get a bit musty.
On to music…
Disc 1636 is…Sigh No More
Artist: Mumford & Sons
Year of Release: 2009
What’s up with the Cover? The band stands mannequin-like in a window. No sign on the storefront, but I’ll assume this place is called “Hipster Consignment Fashion and Instruments”.
I would wear exactly none of the clothes being showcased here, and while the guitar is nice, I play lefty.
How I Came To Know It: I think Sheila and I saw these guys on some awards show. She recalls it was the Grammys but the idea that I watched the Grammys is so repulsive that I fervently hope she’s wrong, and that it was Saturday Night Live.
How It Stacks Up: I have two Mumford & Sons albums, and this is the better one.
Rating: 3 stars
Mumford & Sons were all the rage back in 2009, and this album did very well, going platinum in multiple countries. I was swept up in the excitement back then. I’m not sure if I over-listened to this in the day or just that I’ve moved on musically, but this record no longer speaks to me like it once did.
If you were living in a cave in 2009 and it wasn’t “The Cave” you may have missed this record, but otherwise it was unlikely, because this thing was played everywhere. It is an early bit of indie alternative music, with a heavy lean toward Irish folk music in the mix.
The one thing that immediately jumps out is that these guys play fast and tight, sitting nicely at the front of the pocket in a way that gives every track a pining urgency. I’ll also give full credit to lead singer Marcus Mumford’s vocals. He has a compelling tone in that slightly shaky, head voice that was all the rage back around the time this record came out (the Decemberist’s Colin Meloy does the same thing, albeit slightly better).
When they’re good they evoke a restless sadness. “Winter Winds” pulls you in with a timeless grace that makes this music feel older and wiser than it is. The song is a mood piece and a well-done one at that. A lot of the songs on “Sigh No More” evoke mood well, although many failed to inspire me lyrically after repeat listens. “Winter Winds” manages to be both musically and lyrically interesting so, kudos.
“Dust Bowl Dance” is the finest bit of storytelling on the album. The song has a nice meander, and with its themes of depression-era hopelessness it reminded me favourably of Dylan’s “Ballad of Hollis Brown” except where Hollis’ son is left alive and uses the remaining shotgun shells on the bankers coming to possess the farm.
Apart from a few standout moments, however, I didn’t feel as inspired by this record as when I first heard it. Musically it is tight, but it has a lot of busyness and many of the songs suffer from a lack of compelling melody. Lots of fast and furious banjo, but it can blend together into soup of sound. I kept waiting for an amazing Pogues song to develop out of this, but it never quite happened.
There is lots to like about this album and I was hoping I would fall under its charm as I’d done in days of yore, but the spell was intermittent at best. It could be that I’ve heard similar albums to this since and liked them better, or maybe I just need a few more years of separation from the ubiquity of this record. Whatever the cause, I had a hard time feeling the “deep feels” that I think the band intends to evoke with these tunes. Instead they walk too close to the edge of the age-old bane of indie music – ironic detachment – occasionally straying over.
Best tracks: The Cave, Winter Winds, Dust Bowl Dance
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