Whilst their 2010 and 2011 shows were tainted by sibling arguments, abuse to the crowd and…er…pigeon turd, Kings of Leon have today announced an end to their uneasy hiatus by releasing news of a string of UK arena shows for summer next year.
Now, don’t hold success against them. Their transformation from beard-rock desert pin-ups to “stadium-filling corporate whores” (as one blogger put it) has been well documented and commented on. Fair enough, Kings of Leon’s early stuff is their best work to date. Sure, ‘Sex on Fire’ is regularly used by contestants at X Factor auditions. And yeah, the video to ‘Radioactive’ was a mis-judged, pretentious jumble with frontman Caleb Followill looking like some denim-clad Jesus Christ. However, Kings of Leon still matter and certainly have enough talent to thrill us once more. Here’s why…
1. Family rivalry makes them explosive.
From Caleb’s on-stage meltdown in Texas and the cancellation of the rest of their 2011 tour dates to the rumours of the rest of the band kicking him out, sibling tension has always made Kings of Leon so exciting. They breathed life into music when they appeared as ”the Southern Strokes” in the early part of last decade and they show no signs of mellowing with age. In fact, quite the opposite as it seems with each album the Followills have got more unhinged and more wild and unstable.
2. They write BIG songs.
‘Sex on Fire’ and ‘Use Somebody’ are granted. The former graces commercials and the latter appears in Comic Relief skits about poverty. However, who remembers the frantic and pacy ‘Molly’s Chambers’? Who recalls the atmospheric and powerful ‘Milk’? Who’s heard the incredible hope-filled escapist number ‘Trani’? They have songs for everyone. They trigger lighters-in-the-air moments as well as stadium-filling mosh pits.
3. They have ambition.
Don’t label them sell-outs. Sure, they play stadiums. Yet so do Arcade Fire. Just because the latter have eight members, a variety of instruments and sing about religion, don’t hold that against Kings of Leon. They are the Southerners on a ranch who made it big. They have a great variety of ambition and just because they write crowd-pleasing anthems, it doesn’t make them the new Killers.
4. They aren’t fake.
Much like Oasis before them, Kings of Leon were a group of poor boys who didn’t stop until they had the world at their feet. Yet, despite all the success, they still retain their Southern heritage. They have a family drinking session each Christmas followed by a variety of weird Oklahoma customs (as seen in the Kings of Leon documentary Talihina Sky). Kings of Leon are most definitely not posers, and you won’t catch Caleb Followill talking about politics or global-warming any time soon because he only cares about the music.
5. Most bands are lucky to have one good album, Kings of Leon had two.
The debut was a crashing, thumping Southern American affair about lust, drinking and fun. Third album Because of the Times dispelled the ‘difficult third album’ myth and cemented Kings of Leon as one of the best American bands of this generation. The platform which they created was unprecedented and it resonated with people, leading to fourth album Only by the Night to become a colossal omnipresent monster which bowled over everything in its path. And for that reason alone, we owe Kings of Leon an awful lot.
By James Daniel Rodger
Dance Yrself Clean
