My first thought when I heard the Kings of Leon was “Who taught these kids to play rock and roll?” Frankly, I had a hard time believing it was all true. The story goes like this: three brothers, Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill, along with first cousin Matthew, form a band, get signed to a major label, create the best kick-ass, hip-shakin, boot-struttin rock in god knows how long and to top it all off, their mythology credits their upbringing to a Southern traveling evangelist named Leon. I was instantly impressed with their inventive playing, instinct when it came to arrangements and their sheer belief in what they were doing. These boys knew they were good. In that respect, it reminded me of the confidence I heard in Steely Dan’s first, “Can’t Buy a Thrill”.
Kings of Leon’s constant touring and the distractions inherent have destroyed lesser young bands. These guys have embraced it. They’ve beefed up their playing, explored different influences and found plenty of fodder for lyrics. “Aha Shake Heartbreak” explores everything from fumbling groupie sex, chemical over-indulgence, fist-fights, losing erections, going bald, long, slow nights, and the eventual morning after.
‘Soft,’ probably the most explicit song on the album, explores the inability to satisfy a partner because of previous sexual exertion and other forms of over-indulgence. ‘The Bucket’ is a group/self-realization about the fame and how they choose to deal with it. “Always remember the pact that we made, too young to die, but old is a grave,” sums up the song in one line. On what seems to be the chorus, we get single words, “18, balding, star, Golden, fallen, heart,” a clever and economic way to sing the blues.
With lead singer, Caleb, often it’s not so much what he sings but how he sings it. Because much of the lyrics when played are unintelligible and when read alone, hard to understand, they are much better delivered with a great voice over a tough guitar part. Caleb Followill is the most compelling pop/rock/whatever singer I’ve heard since Kurt Cobain. His voice-shredding, emotional, creative approach and sheer reach recall Cobain and John Lennon.
Guitarist Matthew creates very unique guitar lines that speak of toughness, sensitivity and melody all at the same time. His occasional solos are well done, but he really shines on his rhythm as lead guitar playing throughout, a quality more compelling and important when listening to a band instead of individual players. The meshing between Matthew and Caleb’s guitar playing brings to mind the Stones, Buzzcocks and Neil Young’s Crazy Horse.
Bassist Jared and drummer Nathan are perhaps the most solid rhythm section in rock today. In ‘Pistol of Fire’ and ‘Razz,’ Jared and Nathan lay down a groove you can’t imagine any other way. Also, dig the crescendos in opener, ‘Slow Night, So Long’ led by Nathan’s wild but precise drumming.
The Kings have also stretched out to include elements of new-wave and found more angular ways of spitting out songs, but they haven’t lost a bit of toughness. ‘Razz’ and ‘Four Kicks’ rock as hard as anything they’ve done. ‘Taper Jean Girl’ and ‘Soft’ ride on rhythmic guitar lines and shifting tempos that imply experimentation, but experimentation that works and comes quite easy. ‘Milk’ takes the Kings somewhere they haven’t been before, experimental, slow, moody and quite cold while ‘Day Old Blues’ finds Caleb going from introspective calmness to exuberant yodeling on the chorus. There’s also a curious ending section to ‘Slow Night, So Long’ that includes a tinkling piano and Latin percussive elements not far from early Santana. Much of “Aha Shake Heartbreak” is bold, inventive and unflinching, all elements that distinguish the best rock music out there.
That said, I don’t hear anything that will send the Kings of Leon to the charts, a la Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Take Me Out’ or ‘Seven Nation Army’ by the White Stripes. Still, they’re band that will continue to make very good records for as long as they can hold it together. “Aha Shake Heartbreak” places the Kings of Leon at the top of the heap.
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