Radiating biohazard levels of boy band charm, Kings of Leon easily could have tread the pop path blazed by relative flyweights like the Jonas Brothers. Thankfully, these Tennessee sons opted for a musical road less traveled, in the process becoming darlings of the new Southern rock underground.

Featuring the Followill siblings — Caleb (vocals, guitar), Jared (bass) and Nathan (drums) — the trio enlisted cousin Matthew Followill (lead guitar) and honed their chops performing in churches where the brothers’ father was a Pentacostal preacher. Shucking sacred music for rock and roll, the Followill clan forged a unique sound that suggested a perverse musical union between the Seeds, Lynyrd Skynyrd and XTC. The group’s debut album Youth and Young Manhood was the hipster find of 2003, produced by Angelo Petraglia and Ethan Johns (son of renowned Led Zeppelin and the Who producer Glyn Johns). On their 2004 follow-up, Aha Shake Heartbreak, Kings of Leon traded youthful brashness for a slightly more introspective lyricism (“If their debut was a night of chasing skirts and drinking Jim Beam from the bottle, Heartbreak is the bitter, worn-out morning after,” noted Blender magazine in its four-star review). The kudos spiraled even higher with the 2007 release of Because Of The Times , an album critics hailed as their crowning achievement, despite their relatively short career to that point.

The band’s latest, Only By The Night , solidly reflects their experience: if votes of confidence are any indication, then the rock aristocracy has all but handed the hierarchal throne over to Kings of Leon. KOL has accepted opening act invitations from some of pop’s most lordly personalities, including Bob Dylan, U2 and Pearl Jam.

Provenance: Nashville, Tennessee

Latest Release: Only By The Night (2008)



© 2008 Nigel Music Media LLC. Used by permission.

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