A little while ago myself and the homegirl Jess meandered over to Brooklyn to catch summer-anthem-maestros Temper Trap, in action.  The Trap, who have already earned a post in the Muffin bakery, put on a vivacious show and were enthusiastically received by Billysburg’s masses.  The reason I’m in in the bakery today though is not because of Temper Trap, but because of openers Mumford & Sons, who (at least to me) seemingly came out of nowhere and blew the roof off the mother and hit us with the bop gun.  All of the sudden I was in the middle of a jamboree, and wouldn’t you know it, I left my cowboy boots at home….

Mumford and Sons will soon be your new favorite family, and it’s important to know family, so let’s get to it.  The band is made up of Marcus Mumford, Country Winston, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane, and even though these lads call West London home (’allo guv!), they certainly would not be out of place as the house band at Al Swearengen’s saloon way back when.  As far as the music goes - that’s a little harder to describe. The album, Sigh No More, has a little folk here, a little Americana there, and a whole lot of harmonies everywhere.  All of that sound is accompanied by generous helpings of sorrow, heartache and betrayal - the songs have some high highs, but goddamn do they have some low lows.  Marcus’ live rendition of ‘White Blank Page’ is the most intense performance of a song these eyes have ever seen - the raw honesty and brutal despair of his voice made you feel like you had lived through whatever breakup he had gone through to get to that point.  Bluegrass as a means of catharsis? Whatever works mi amigo, whatever works.

The good new is that it’s not all 808 and heartbreaks, there are some good ol’ fashioned rabble-rousing knee-slappers on the album too.  The bad news is that Sigh No More is probably not going to be released in the U.S. of A. until early next year.  But fear not Muffinheads, you can entertain yourself with a few ditties here in the bakery until the hoedown comes stateside, and for some intellectual S’s and G’s you can head on over to Mumford’s website and join Marcus’s book club - reading is FUNdamental remember?  Time for me to mosey on outta here. Time for you to get your jam on - oh, and if you’re not in a foot-tapping frenzy by the end of ‘Little Lion Man’ then I’ll buy you a muffin next time we cross paths.  There’s probably also something wrong with you.  Mumford & Sons: Train Tested. Muffin Approved.

Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man

Mumford & Sons - White Blank Page

English Muffins can order Sigh No More HERE.  U.S. Muffins can order an import HERE….or just wait patiently until next year….

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