Kings of Leon Stagger to Greatness

If Jack White is The Rockfather, Kings of Leon are the first family of American rock. The latest record, Only By The Night, from the three southern brothers and a cousin is yet another sign rock & roll is alive and well in the United States.

Only By The Night starts with the haunting “Closer.” With no shortage of effects “Closer” is more Close Encounters and sounds like a pitch-black night with a prison spotlight panning over the ground. While far from a gem, “Closer” builds anticipation and is a serviceable table setter for the few of us who still listen to whole albums.

By song two it’s on. “Crawl” brings the fuzz guitars Wolfmother style while maintaining a sled dog pace by layering a cleaner guitar riff right over the top. It should be noted that “Crawl” was rumored to be the first single and video off the album before being eventually being replaced by “Sex on Fire.”

That’s what I love about Kings of Leon. They’re proper rock stars. The behavior, the egos, the chemicals. Rolling with the song title “Sex on Fire” as your first single is going to significantly limit your radio options. But that’s Kings of Leon, they don’t try to fix it. Just listen to how “Sex on Fire” ends with that last hard guitar jab. It’s the studio equivalent of throwing the mic down at the end of your set only without the feedback.

When the band appeared on Saturday Night Live this past weekend, they chose to play the single “Sex on Fire” and glossy ballad “Use Somebody.” I suspect “Use Somebody” will be a hot button song for Kings of Leon fans. While this power ballad still has some of the band’s signature rough edges including increasing the tempo midway through – it’s a long way from the Tennessee woods and whiskey where many of their core fans want Kings of Leon to stay. “Use Somebody” is Black Crows meets Bryan Adams. And I for one hope it pops for them as this is a band that needs to be as big as they sound.

If pressed to describe the Kings of Leon’s signature sound I’d call it jean shorts and wine rock. Like “Ragoo” off Because of the Times, “Manhattan” nails this rambling, open toed sound of rock & roll stuffed into a picnic basket. Really great stuff, and at the moment a sound only coming out of this band.

If there is a dip on Only By the Night it occurs with the four songs directly after “Manhattan.” I suspect this section of the record will grow on me and become more important in the days ahead but it doesn’t pop right away. There are nuggets here too though from the street fighter spirit of “Notion” to the soda pop swank of “I Want You” which wouldn’t sound out of place alongside Lucille washing the car in Cool Hand Luke.

Only By The Night’s second act begins with song ten “Be Somebody.” It’s another power ballad, but not quite as tucked in as “Use Somebody.” The similar song titles reminds me of the early ‘90s when seemingly every Pearl Jam track was called “Nothing Man,” “Better Man,” etc. The two songs are similar but the drums and epic sound of “Be Somebody” make it the one you’ll remember.

The big knock on Because of the Times, and likely Only By The Night is going to be that the music is too crisp and produced. People will be looking for the Larry, Daryl, and Daryl grit of the band’s first couple albums. To these people I proudly introduce the last track on the record and also the song that solidifies Only By The Night as a great album . . .it’s called ”Cold Desert.”

“Cold Desert” is a staggering ballad that would sound best with a bottle of bourbon under the wide-open sky. It’s sprit horse Indian reservation stuff, the musical equivalent of Martin Sheen in his hotel room in Apocalypse Now. It’s the song Kid Rock can only dream of one day making. If lyrics like “Jesus don’t love me” don’t get to you, this YouTube behind the scenes look at the making of “Cold Desert” certainly will:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhBdPEaNj-g

In summary, I for one hope Only By The Night places Kings of Leon one step closer to stadiums. This music is too important not to be heard by more people. I hope the boys put a fist through the wall and get out of their critical, UK based niche and get more acclaim here in the States.

Which remind me, all the great music is coming out of Blackbird Studios in Nashville right now. Is there someway we can get homeland security protecting that place? I want barricades. I want an on-going red level warning. I’m willing to be frisked to and give up civil liberties. Anything to help Mr. White and the extended Followil family put their music into the world.