Because Of The Times

Editorial Review

You can never mistake any album from the Kings of Leon. Yes there's the music, which is somewhere between folk, roots, rock, blues, country, indie, and kitchen sink, but it's the remarkably different squawking vocals of Caleb Followill that makes it all so immediately recognizable. And an acquired taste it is too. For new converts might even suggest that he never gives up the day job, such is his singular appeal.

What makes this third album even more intriguing is that it's less obvious than the previous two. Far more individuality, much less of the expected. Not that the Nashville four were ever predictable. For a start they are not your traditional truck driving, pig-swilling, Parton loving collective. Three brothers (all sons of a traveling preacher man) and a cousin, exude a maturity that belies their early 20's age bracket. Listening to them you'd think that it was a lifetime of bourbon drinking that affected their slightly warped outlook. It might have been (they start young there) but the perspective is crystal clear.

Although hardly a shocking bunch of upstarts, the first track is just as you'd expect with a track titled like that – about getting a girl up the duff. But the contrasts between easy strumming, Edge-eque guitar riffs, and the odd drumming crack of a whip are fantastic. Plus at a never dragging 7 minutes long, it's a splendidly unlikely opener. But these guys are proud and natural trend buckers.

If they have been more bluesey rootsy before, then this time they are exposing other riffs. "Charmer" is positively rocking, and it's only the accent and odd reference to the preacher that would give away that they are from the American heartland not more recognized indie breeding grounds. But that's just the way that they compose and create. Likewise on "Mcfearless". Edgier and more abstract than you'd expect, or than was obvious in their past work. But now having established their credentials (in Europe anyway, they are still relatively unknown in their native land), and dealt with the whole "difficult second album" nonsense, they can get down to the serious business of how they want to evolve.

There's a rampant 60's rockiness to "Black Thumbnail", and although unfair to compare them to any contemporaries, this is a slab of unfettered old style rock 'n roll, but still with flashes of modern country-isms, that the White Stripes do so well. The resounding guitar line at the start of "Fans" also has a Jack White trademark ballsiness, and it's a track that twists and turns marvelously. Followill's vocals also going up an active higher with driven fervor.

The repeated chorus riff on "My Party" does give some rock-apop-abilly singalong quality to it, yet it is the massive wave of noise underneath that carries it along. Then just to show that they haven't lost the subtlety that makes them so worthy, "The Runner" has real delicacy, whilst "Trunk" has potent laziness. "Camaro" is a driving standard, even if the air guitar riffs detract a shade.

By the time the airy, dreamy, truly accomplished "Arizona" final track breezes in, they have painted a fantastic picture, even if you can't make out all the shapes. They have naturally matured in their music making, though not without losing individuality or passion, and certainly not at any fear of growing old. The identity is changing, their character growing. This is not the most listenable album of the three so far, but it is the one where they show beyond any doubt that they are here to stay.

Neil Chase
Music Editor
April 2007

Contributors:

• Kings Of Leon
• Angelo Petragua; Ethan Jones

Additional Info

• Label: RCA Records (USA)
• No of Discs: 1
• Recording: STEREO
• Format: Single Case

Tracklisting