One You Should Know: Kings of Leon

Roaring out your speakers from the little town o' Nashville come the Followill clan -- three brothers and one cousin -- set to save old-fashioned rawk and roll, one deadly shotgun song blast at a time. Looking like set extras from a 1970s TV movie, all long hair, skinny mustaches, and skinnier jeans, the boys sound like a Southern-style cross between the Strokes' sharp twin guitar assault and Skynyrd's barroom drawl and swagger. Truthfully, though, there is only one way to describe the Kings -- they fucking rock. HARD. And they do it so completely and unabashedly it's amazing they've only been around for a shade under five years.

Despite their relative nascence, the Followills have so thoroughly destroyed almost all other rock offerings in that span that it's virtually criminal how unknown they remain here at home. (Their reception in the UK has been much like that of their aforementioned NY brethren, which borders on deification.) But don't let the obscurity or meager sales numbers fool you -- the quality is absolutely unparalleled.

The band touches something primal within, to the point you lose all composure or restraint while listening to them. (And don't give a damn while doing so.) It's like a tent revival -- wild hand claps, pistoning arms and legs, an almost total loss of control and inhibition. (Which hearkens to the boys' similar upbringing, traveling the country with their evangelist pa.) You'll find yourself singing along to songs you don't know the words to, aping Caleb's mumbled slurs and cocksure swagger while throwing rawk signs and bobbing your head like the baddest hombre you can conjure.

Half the time you wonder if Caleb knows what he's saying, but at the end of the day that's not what the music is about. (Even when you do figure out the lyrics, they often don't make any sense, but ultimately that doesn't matter. I've listened to "Wasted Time" and "Spiral Staircase" umpteen gajillion times and still don't know what the fuck he's talking about, but I'll be damned if that stops me from squawking along at high volume every time they come on.) It's all about the attitude -- these songs bleed it, and you will too. (To varying degrees of success...)

It doesn't matter where you are -- at the cube at work, driving in the car, or walking around in public with the Pod -- you'll be convulsing like a born-again when you hear them and just won't care. You'll know you look stupid (and will likely get your share of befuddled looks from coworkers and strangers as a result), but won't be able to help yourself -- it's utterly irresistible.

I first caught these guys live at Lollapalooza last summer and have been a fervent acolyte ever since. (Hell, you KNOW they're good when EdVed comes out on stage to rock along with them. That's one hell of a stamp of approval...) The songs below represent the best tunes off their first three albums and are a sonic freight train, hitting with every bit of impact that locomotor implies.

The tracklist below starts out with the first three tracks off their 2003 debut, Youth and Young Manhood -- "Red Morning Light," "Happy Alone," and "Wasted Time," as good a 1-2-3 combo as any band can hope to have, let alone a bunch of newcomers -- and continues midway through with another undeniable triple play off their 2005 sophomore effort, Aha Shake Heartbreak. ("King of the Rodeo," "Taper Jean Girl," and "Pistol of Fire.") All the songs off these first two albums are rapid-fire assaults, with all but two clocking in at three minutes or less. It isn't until their third album, 2007's Because of the Times, that the boys stretch things out and loosen up a little, culminating in the sprawling gem "Knocked Up." (The first track off that album, the closer here.)

There are songs of pure perfection here, songs I could listen to dozens of times (and do) with no depreciation in quality or impact. "Genius," "Soft," and "Happy Alone" are every bit as good now as they were the first time I heard them and will have you shouting nonsensical lyrics with pure relish and abandon. ("I'll be prancing around in my hiiiiigh heeels, yo' cherry red liiiipstiiiick, look out yo' window, I'm on yo' streeeeet..." "Yo' coo-coo-coo-creepin', creepin' undahneath mah skeeeen. Fuck you and yo' flashbulbs, takin' mah pick-cha again..." "Oh ya paint mah fingahs and ya paint mah toes, ya let yo' perfect nip-pulls shoooooow!") "The Bucket," "Black Thumbnail," and "Ragoo" are blissful, shimmery jubilation, and songs like "Camaro" and "Pistol of Fire" are meant to be blared from a car stereo charging down the highway at 100mph.

So load up the Itunes and get ready to roll -- the Kings are about to show you how it's done.


Kings of Leon:

1. Red Morning Light
2. Happy Alone
3. Wasted Time
4. Molly's Chambers
5. Spiral Staircase
6. Genius
7. Holy Roller Novocaine
8. King of the Rodeo
9. Taper Jean Girl
10. Pistol of Fire
11. Razz
12. Soft
13. The Bucket
14. Ragoo
15. Black Thumbnail
16. My Party
17. Camaro
18. Knocked Up

Who Likes To Rock The Party?

As much as it must break Bret and Jemaine's hearts (a reference to the Kiwi-duo Flight of the Conchords for those who have thus far avoided this addictive habit), I've recently fallen for the group of Aussies behind Cut Copy. Watch out all you ladies with your babies shakin' their booties: these guys most definitely know how to rock the party, even if they are the descendants of criminals.

It's rare that I listen to an album in its entirety, but Cut Copy's new album In Ghost Colours is a well-deserving exception. Started by DJ Dan Whitford in 2001 and now on their second album, Cut Copy manages to seamlessly blend transitions from gleaming rock guitar melodies to Daft Punk style techno segments all while keeping you moving and humming along to their upbeat 80's and punk-inspired tunes. The whole album has a certain lightness and a bit of whimsy to it all, which has made it one of my top picks for capturing that carefree beginning-of-summer feeling without all the attitude. It's a cheery album with a great deal of depth, and has successfully avoided the trap of being annoyingly pop-y or screaming fun in that sorority girl sort of way.

They'll be at the Black Cat Thursday, 15 May, which I'm really looking forward to, and hopefully back again soon. In the meantime, check out their music video for their song "Lights and Music" below to hold you over 'til their next trip from down under.

jonny d

Consolers of the Odd Couple

Greetings, cherubim! As I sit here on the couch with a rather prodigious hangover (met the lass' parents for the first time last night and ended up getting lit with them and the chef who cooked our meal after a monumental feast -- just another night in the land of Bobby Sunshine...), watching Inter piss away yet another chance to clinch the scudetto, I thought I'd pop in to do a hybrid "songs of the week" and "CD review" edition. First up on the pallet is the title track off the Raconteurs' new disc, Consolers of the Lonely. The song itself shows the band at its best -- dueling guitars, stop-start tempo shifts, Brendan Benson's golden AM radio voice juxtaposed against Jack White's rapid fire wail -- and the lyrics mimic my life the last few months with all this time spent on my project at work:

Haven't seen the sun in weeks,
My skin is getting pale.
Haven't got a mind left to speak
And I'm skinny as a rail.
...

Haven't had a decent meal
My brain is fried.
Haven't slept a wink for real,
My tongue is tied.

Unfortunately the rest of the album doesn't hold up to the strong start.

What worked so well on the band's first album was the tension between its key parts -- Benson's pop tendencies and the gritty blues-rock mayhem of White -- and the richness that gave the bulk of the songs. It was the sound of a band still getting to know each other, and it brought the best out of both men, leaving a debut that had the teeth of a rock album and the pretty sing-along qualities of a pop one. What we've been given this time, though, seems like the product of a happy marriage -- both members are comfortable now and know each other so well that they start to take on the characteristics of the other -- but that stronger bond doesn't yield as strong a product.

It's only natural that some of the excitement that loaded the first release would be gone. The thrill of discovery has disappeared and what's left is satiated contentment, which is not necessarily a fatal flaw. (For either the music or the metaphoric relationship.) Just as with any relationship, though, allowing too much of oneself to be lost in the mix can lead to problems if there isn't any variety or change, and that's abundantly evident here. What was in perfect balance on the first disc -- the pop/rock friction -- has been followed by an album of disarray. Here we've got Benson sounding like White in a host of songs (including the lead single, "Salute your Solution"), adopting his machine gun vocals, and White aping Benson, either by doing nothing, vocally, ("Many Shades of Black") or by letting songs tip the balance too far towards cornball pop or run of the mill classic rock. ("The Switch and the Spur," "Rich Kid Blues")

Thankfully there are moments where everything is as it was -- perfectly aligned and exciting, like the first throes of that burgeoning relationship. Besides the aforementioned title track, "You Don't Understand Me" and "Old Enough" are a great one-two after the disappointing lead single, and "Carolina Drama" has wonderfully resonant imagery (Jack's favorite trio of colors -- red, black, and white) that takes what might be just another hum-drum narrative to another level. Unfortunately, they're too few and far between to save the album.

The band clearly has potential -- when it works, its formula of pitting rock against pop is quite winning -- but it dooms itself here by forgetting that the joy comes in the friction between those component parts. The strongest relationship is the one that allows both individuals to be themselves and come together to create something greater than that person on their own -- the same thing goes for good art and music. Hopefully Benson and White will rediscover themselves and remember that being who you are doesn't necessarily mean the music -- or the relationship -- will suffer as a result.

Check out a live version of the title track from their performance at Coachella (there were no album versions available -- I looked everywhere) here:



As for track number two, it's off another follow-up album, this one Gnarls Barkley's sophomore effort, The Odd Couple. And while this, too, is another uneven affair, it doesn't suffer from the same "subsuming of self" problem as the Raconteurs did. Here, the only problem seems to be the occasional bad song -- Cee-lo still alternates scattershot raps with a croon that soars for the heavens and Danger Mouse still crafts an unbelievably rich soundscape for him to play in. The album just isn't as immediately embraceable as St. Elsewhere was.

There is no blow your face off single along the lines of "Crazy" that's going to worm its way into your brain and infect every cell for weeks on end -- and that's not necessarily a bad thing. "Charity Case," "Surprise," and this week's selection, "Going On" are all immediate gems -- somehow calling to mind the Motown-flourishes of the 60s (albeit it hyped-up and jittery versions of them), and yet sounding completely different and new -- but the rest of the album is a bit tougher to digest. "Would Be Killer," "Open Book," and "Whatever" all grate at first, but on repeated listens slowly reveal their charms (well maybe not the last -- it still sort of annoys when it pops up on the 'Pod, but as Cee says, "whatever.")

And the rest of the album's the same way -- it takes some time to sink in, but ultimately rewards you for the diligence. "Who's Going to Save My Soul" is a good slow burning soul number, "Blind Mary" captures the exuberance of dating the titular sightless woman (just go with it -- this is the guy who sang a song on the last album about loving someone so much necrophilia was a possibility. It's Cee-lo's world, we're just payin' rent.), and the lead single "Run (I'm a Natural Disaster)" is a staccato blast in all senses of the word, sounding the warning bell about the dangers of knowing me/Cee.

This one's not going to grab you by the ears and shake you like the first one did, but give it some time and it'll please you just the same. Check out the track "Going on" -- which has a gonzo African video with Thriller and drumline undertones -- here: