Thursday, May 26, 2011

Kings of Leon "Come Around Sundown" by Hendrik Koger


Come Around Sundown, released in 2010, will probably delight those who liked the band's 2008 Only by the Night and alienate the fans of their early efforts.

When the rolling mass of "The End" starts to sink in you may start to wonder whom KOL are ripping. And then your thoughts might also wander towards the same way during "Pyro". Ah, yes. "Drive" by The cars. A good source indeed if it's done well. And in this case it is. The band members themselves have described their sound as having a beachy groove to it, which is right on, because the fluidity of the tunes and watery instrument textures are as soothing as they are lukewarm and flat at times. The concise rock format the group adopted on its previous release Only by the Night is firmly asserted throughout the record and leaves little trace of their early garage vibes. Lyrical themes remain close to life and refrain from being too vague, which some might call a good thing. Kings of Leon has a generally likable fusion of U2, garage, southern and alt-rock; that is to say that classification is pointless and that the band comes across as honest with all their influences and provides a hopeful change for the ones not too keen on squeaky indie bands.

However, if you don't dig the boys' mix you can always go "Back Down South" and listen to Skynyrd.

1 comment:

bv said...

getting the right blend of 'arty' and 'rooty', that's where it seems to be at... remarkable how the intricacy and certain restraint of e.g. 'the end' gets transferred into live power in e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZcjfGUyxCA

btw, there's a big new southern comp out:
http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/releases/?id=22999