Look, poking fun at Mumford & Sons is pretty easy, and so easy that, as I stated, it's become pretty much a cliché to do so. 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? No. This is something that we should not do.

Thoughts?

ButterflyEffect:

From the comments:

    WHY DON'T PEOPLE LIKE THE THINGS THAT I LIKE

It's funny that you're posting this because a few days ago two of my roommates and I (we 3 DSR guys) ended up in an hour long discussion that revolved around Mumford & Sons and the rise of Indie Folk in general. There's not really a point in it, they appeal to the masses by producing an inoffensive version of Folk with elements that are just unique and accessible enough to the casual music listener. It's not necessarily marketed towards people that are truly into music, who might find it bland and unoriginal (as the three of us do). Eventually this will pass and another genre will be hip and in to the public and we'll be making these types of articles about those bands. I've come off as a pretentious douche to too many people by trying to tell them that they music they like kind of sucks. That's not going to stop people from liking this band, it's not going to stop them from selling records, the best I can do is nod and show them other lesser-known bands that they might enjoy more.


posted 3906 days ago