The debut from this Colorado crew basically argues that a bunch of Americans can lead slowly-accelerating lovelorn singalongs just as well as UK yankophile Marcus Mumford, bringing fiddle scratching, marching-band snare rolls, parlor-room piano chords, and Kingston Trio guitar strumming to an album that’s long on nostalgic reverie. "American Bandstand, electric guitar" frontman Wesley Schultz sings over handclaps in "Big Parade," which evokes the JFK era; "Flapper Girl" is a piano ditty that conjures the days of prohibition. But the central concern is present-tense lust and heartache, which this spirited band translates into a fine drunk-clogging soundtrack. But on "Slow It Down," which does just that, you hear a deeper, more haunted sound, suggesting there's more here than meets the beer. 

Listen To The Lumineers' "Slow It Down": 

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• Photos: Random Notes

“The Pretender”

This song wasn't part of the planned track listing for 2007's Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, and was put together in a day. "It happened after we recorded a lot of stuff," said Dave Grohl. Yet it ended up as the album opener and the lead single. Grohl called it "a stomping Foo Fighters uptempo song with a little bit of Chuck Berry in it." The singer hinted at the lyrics' political overtones: "Everyone's been f---ed over before and I think a lot of people feel f---ed over right now and they're not getting what they were promised."