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