Kings of Leon-“Aha Shake Heartbreak”
(RCA)
6 out of 10
Photo links to KOL's site and was nicked off BMG
(RCA)
6 out of 10
Photo links to KOL's site and was nicked off BMG
Following the release of the Kings Of Leon’s 2003 release “Youth And Young Manhood”, many critics were quick to bill the Kings as new post-punk mavericks, or the “Southern Strokes”. Meanwhile, following the release of the Kings’ 2005 effort, “Aha Shake Heartbreak”, I strongly disagree with this labeling, and as a Strokes fan, frankly, I’m a tad insulted.
Instead of placing the Kings in the post-punk category in which they would be awkwardly misplaced, I prefer to think of the Kings as the saviors of a floundering alt-country genre. As a band containing three brothers raised by a traveling evangelist in Nashville (plus one cousin from Oklahoma), they seem to be born for that role. “Aha” proves this with a smoky yet decadently fun sound; however, it’s not without its’ clumsy moments.
The best thing about this album is that the instrumentals do indeed echo the Strokes most of the time. The Kings are at their best here when this guitar expertise is displayed. Songs like “The Bucket”, “King Of The Rodeo”, “Taper Jean Girl”, and “Velvet Snow” all deliver fast-paced, 3 A.M. barroom square-dance fun.
Another great track on the album is “Milk”, which, although misplaced, creates a strange feeling. It sounds overly dramatic at first, but after a couple listens this looming stalker song has a powerful feel of desperation. Caleb Followill howls in a manner that fits the song’s narrator, a lovesick aging man with a comb-over. It doesn’t fit too well on this CD, but it’s still oddly attractive.
As much as instrumentals are uniformly impressive throughout the disc, the lyrics are equally absurd and nonsensical. Intentional or not, it hurts the album’s poignant moments. (Honestly, Caleb, is it absolutely, positively vital that we know you hate your lady friend’s “Japanese scream”, whatever the hell that is.)
And speaking of poignant moments, they have never been wrecked in a more effective way than in “Day Old Blues”. It starts decently enough, with flowing acoustic guitar below Caleb lamenting about lord-knows-what. But then the “hook” had to come. The electric guitar sets in and in a unnecessarily high-pitched voice, Caleb wails the title of the song in a fluttering tone of voice sure to nauseate anyone.
Instead of placing the Kings in the post-punk category in which they would be awkwardly misplaced, I prefer to think of the Kings as the saviors of a floundering alt-country genre. As a band containing three brothers raised by a traveling evangelist in Nashville (plus one cousin from Oklahoma), they seem to be born for that role. “Aha” proves this with a smoky yet decadently fun sound; however, it’s not without its’ clumsy moments.
The best thing about this album is that the instrumentals do indeed echo the Strokes most of the time. The Kings are at their best here when this guitar expertise is displayed. Songs like “The Bucket”, “King Of The Rodeo”, “Taper Jean Girl”, and “Velvet Snow” all deliver fast-paced, 3 A.M. barroom square-dance fun.
Another great track on the album is “Milk”, which, although misplaced, creates a strange feeling. It sounds overly dramatic at first, but after a couple listens this looming stalker song has a powerful feel of desperation. Caleb Followill howls in a manner that fits the song’s narrator, a lovesick aging man with a comb-over. It doesn’t fit too well on this CD, but it’s still oddly attractive.
As much as instrumentals are uniformly impressive throughout the disc, the lyrics are equally absurd and nonsensical. Intentional or not, it hurts the album’s poignant moments. (Honestly, Caleb, is it absolutely, positively vital that we know you hate your lady friend’s “Japanese scream”, whatever the hell that is.)
And speaking of poignant moments, they have never been wrecked in a more effective way than in “Day Old Blues”. It starts decently enough, with flowing acoustic guitar below Caleb lamenting about lord-knows-what. But then the “hook” had to come. The electric guitar sets in and in a unnecessarily high-pitched voice, Caleb wails the title of the song in a fluttering tone of voice sure to nauseate anyone.
I love the Kings’ trademark sound to death, but for such a talented group of musicians I’m shocked that they can’t write better songs and fully capitalize on the southern bravado that they only demonstrate some of the time.
Key Tracks: "The Bucket", "Milk", "King Of The Rodeo"
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