Caleb, Nathan and Jared are the three hairy sons of a Pentecostal Preacherman who together with cousin Matthew form the KINGS OF LEON. Four hirsute dudes from the southern states currently shooting big in the UK with their gun blazin' debut album 'Youth and Young Manhood'.
For anyone who hasn't yet heard the tale, these guys were plucked from obscurity and thrust into our consciousness by The Strokes A&R man after having only played a handful of gigs. Still largely unknown in the States, their meteoric NME-endorsed rise has been impressive and Strokelike to say the least but for all the hype it's difficult not to like their unique blend of southern fried rock n' roll blues with makeshift attitude.
From the opening punk rock jauntiness of 'Red Morning Light' to the shuffling acoustic beauty of hidden track 'Talahinha Sky' the four kings! rock through a whole host of influences; The Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers, Bolan, Black Crowes, Dylan and The Band and many more. It does all this and still manages to stay free of any retrospective constraints, keeping it fresh. and wholesome for y'all.
There's a carefree and honest side to the songwriting and production, Caleb's throaty lived in voice and out there vocal providing a focal point for much of the proceedings wildly augmented by the dirty over driven electric guitars. The whole thing running like an overplayed dark comedy; a natural
|
follow on from the White Stripes, somewhere in between The Strokes and The Vines.
They spin their tales of southern life on the road with their
preaching pop, the themes of which involve the parishioners a group of prostitutes, alcoholics, murderers and transvestites!!! I'm not in the least reminded of sunday school back in the day, not one bit!! There are some great singalong moments though and some big shouty singalong chorus's with 'California Waiting' and 'Molly's Chambers' leading the charge. There's some Dylanesque moments on 'Spiral Staircase' and a soothing southern sun going down on 'Dusty.'
It's a great album, there's plenty of times listening to this that it's so good I had to laugh. Check it out now while it's still fresh, I have a feeling that we haven't heard the last from these goddam Preacher's boys. The word is spreadeth.
|
