When it comes to music I am by no means a hipster, in fact sometimes I feel like a bit of a square. Although I retain a fairly good amount of musical data in my brain, my inner library is very selective. And if you’re anything like me there are times where you feel like the last person in the world to know of a band; that was me with Kings of Leon. I remember listening to “Sex on Fire,” which was the first single off their fourth album, Only By the Night, and not being all that familiar with their music and everybody saying to me “Oh yea, I’ve been listening to Kings of Leon for years.”
Through the years I’ve become more intimate with the bands collection of music and even though I’ve taken a liking to the bands early stuff as well as the newer mainstream hits, I was never overly impressed. So I was a little shocked with how much I loved the first two singles released off their sixth studio album Mechanical Bull, “Supersoaker,” and “Wait for Me.” I think “Supersoaker” is one of the best singles released this year, the song has a magical feel and when it hits the climatic fusion of harmonies it’s transcendent. And I only needed to hear the first few seconds of “Wait for Me” to instantly know it was a song that was going to be making girls weak in the knees. It begins with the low guitar and then the drums kick in ever so softly, followed with frontman Caleb Followill’s sincerely felt opening lyric, “Cut open my heart, right at the scar, and listen up.”
“Rock City,” which is the second track off the record, pays homage to the bands hometown of Nashville and with a classic played down vibe. A simple song with soul, a twang in the guitar, and anguish in the vocals, “I need to find something, I’m searching for something” / I go Back to Rock City.” “Don’t Matter,” is a guitar powered song, that leads with a faint scream, and a carefree attitude “I can fuck or I can fight, It don’t matter to me.” “Beautiful War” is a ballad with the emotional grit to fill a room; it slowly builds with a faint chorus which gives it a gospel like feel.
The album coasts along with the bands signature southern rock sound, but with a more melodic touch. “Temple” has a nineties rock feel to it with an easy tuneful sound that’s catchy in an understated way. “Comeback Story,” is mystical ballad with beautiful violins toward the end as the tempo rises with whimsical melodies. “Coming Back Again” is energetic with the colliding drums and an awesome dominant guitar riff that mystically escalates with the verse “I can feel it coming back again.”
“On the Chin,” is a slow folky jam with a daydream feel, talking about chain smoking and day drinking. The album wraps up with two bonus tracks “Work on Me,” and “Last Mile Home,” that signifies a continuation of a build from the bands musical influence of the blues to incorporating more harmonies. “Last Mile Home,” once more includes some violin towards the end of the song very faintly to close the album nicely.
Kings of Leon’s previous album Come Around Sundown accompanied hits, “Radioactive,” “Pyro,” and a very charming song, “The Immortals,” which was never officially released as a single, but one that Caleb wrote wanting to express to his children to go out and be what you want to be. The album was received well, but there was a definite vibe of some unsettled emotions as it ended up revealing a very tumultuous time for the band when they were embarking on a 50 city North American and Europe tour which led to singer Caleb’s public meltdown; forcing them to cancel the remainder of the U.S. tour.
But the Followill gang seem to be back well rested and relaxed and it shows through in Mechanical Bull. The song writing is as earnest as ever with the grittiness in Caleb’s voice even more striking.
Rating: 4 /5