GENRE(S): Rock - Alternative
PREAMBLE - Mainstream Rock by any other name is Kings Of Leon.
LOOK - An Abstract Art representation of a Cock Fight seems to be what we have here; fairly suited for this Nashville quartet. All-American boys making All-American Rockish-type music (kinda sorta)... you have to appeal to your American Heartland audience as well you're hipster demo', I guess. I wasn't aware they had any Urban Outfitters' in Tennessee; that just might be my West Coast Cultural Biases channeling through. This digital-type-topped Warshak-Test-Like image is "cool", that's a fact.
LISTEN - Kings Of Leon started off as a Southern answer to The Strokes. That sound is still represented sparsely ("sparsely" is being generous) on this record. "Sex On Fire" has that bouncy quality craved when at the club dancing to Post Punk bands with jean jackets and unwashed hair.
I will have to hand it to KOL, when they find a killer guitar riff they sure know how to milk it and churn it in to anthem-worthy butter. Are they simply trying to grease us up with songs that will give you no choice but to pump your fist in the air to?
On "I Want You" we get, what is, the only honest vocal delivery from Anthony "Caleb" Followill (but still not devoid of the overused echo effect). You get your one upbeat "hit" song ("Sex On Fire") that is worthy of the Repeat Button. Everything else is fodder not worth a $42 dollar ticket.
SPEAK - It doesn't matter how many vests you own, how tight your jeans are, or how much vintage shopping you do, the soul is in the music... or so I thought. This record tells me something different. Slap on the hipster label and head out on the road. "What you see is what you get" is how the saying goes, correct? The opposite is true with Kings Of Leon. I don't SEE what the big flame-fanning is all about, and what I seem to GET is another Rock Band with an abundance of stadium anthems with plenty of oven-baked soul to go around (we get one of these about every five years or so). No fear, it's all wrapped up in this "cool", "hip" little package; but this one doesn't deliver on what it portrays.
ALBUM GRADE - D
ALBUM ARTWORK - C
DO WE HAVE A FIT? NO
I've always been a fan of the obscure and even after I "grew up" was familiar with many bands because of the influence of my sons. Now that they are grown I have fallen away and I now know that I have to listen to The Kings of Leon. They are just everywhere you look. I think I have heard them on one of the late night shows but I am going to post this comment and then go elsewhere online to give them a good listen. Thanks for giving me a push.
ReplyDeleteOk...I'm a woman of my word. I listened to Revelry. I liked it. But since you didn't mention it on your site I will go back and listen to Sex on Fire so that I can see what you say is worth a second listen.
ReplyDeleteCall me old but I didn't like that song at all. It seemed like an easy, cheap, commercial way to have a hit.
ReplyDelete