Kings of Leon Kick Toward Greatness

By Andrew William Smith, Editor

November 13, 2008

Since 2008 has brought us so many instant classics–like the recent offerings from Fleet Foxes, My Morning Jacket, and TV On The Radio (to name three)–we’re hardly greedy for another stab at stellar greatness. But Tennessee’s Kings of Leon would still like an audience with those betting on the best album of the year. Enter Only By The Night.

The ferocious follow-up to last year’s brilliant Because of the Times came so quickly that some fans were still basking in the beauty of the previous effort. But Kings of Leon embrace urgency.

Not wasting any time, my regional brethren who are themselves brothers bust it out like they really have something to prove. While I don’t understand why any band that headlines Glastonbury should still suffer insecurities, I respect their ambition. This is a Nashville band that wants to be as popular in Nashville as they are in Nottingham.

After too many listens (like twice a day since the record was released in September), the commencing kickass “woi-woi” (or whatever that loopingly lush sound should be called) of “Closer” still intoxicates and inspires. Without shame, the track tantalizes and tempts and “shows no mercy” to the fan still vulnerable to voluptuous hooks.

The second song rides the punishing crunch of a growling bass guitar into the jaws of the apocalypse. Few Chicken Little-approved “end times” jams have been so white-boy funky and right-on prophetic. How many of the band’s new fans in the “abused” and “crucified USA” can wrap their recession-ridden arms around the sober truth of this pulsating parable?

A seductive single for sure, “Sex on Fire” does its best to engrave its chorus in the subconscious of everyday American listeners. Of course its libido is lit, but after the raunch and roll of tracks like “Taper Jean Girl” and “Soft” and so many others from the Kings’ earlier efforts, some folks might feel that this record is just not nasty enough. Those addicted to the more rugged sounds of the dirty south might want to run for bands like Dead Confederate.

All the problems some people seem to have with the production and polish are presented full force in “Use Somebody” with all its “whoa whoa” moments and memorable refrains and such. The urge to anthem remains strong on “Manhattan” with its push to “dance all night” or “hunt to kill.” By this point in the record, suspicions fade. We smell the sheer effort exuded here.

By the time we get to “Revelry,” there’s no disgrace in a “Woo, hoo, hoo” or the “sweet taste of kerosene.” From the lyrics to the living energy, this remains an outfit that can reach to the pinnacles of infinite and epic rock clichés and still get us to sigh and sing along as if these tunes were always embedded in our souls.

The almost dangerous “17″ offers a delicate place where a much more poppy Followill family four needs to grapple with expectations and its own bad-boy reputation.

For all of the critics who have charged or castigated without cheering a bit, this band never seemed to seek the artsy pretense or underground attitude of their indy-rock peers. They wanted to be a great and accessible rock band all along. Given the particular limitations of the rock genre and the regional stigma associated with the band’s southern identity, it’s frankly amazing to note the group’s global popularity.

There are some records that we are supposed to hate-but we allow them under our skin anyway. There are some records the critics tell you to love-but we reject them without a care. This disc defied an initial wave of mediocre responses and still seduces because of-and in spite of-its mainstream mission and massive purpose.

On Halloween, I was at a party where the prepared dance mix did not please some attendees. A few folks decided to hijack the deejay role. And they played this new Kings of Leon record over and over and over again. We tore it up and wore it out. Even if Kings of Leon will never be called a dance band, we danced like it really mattered to each and every song in their latest repertoire.

Only By The Night was released on September 23. Please visit www.kingsofleon.com for more information