Kings of Leon
Only By The Night
SonyBMG
Is this the album with which the Kings finally usurp the Strokes? Almost.
It's six years since the Strokes hosted these Southern boozehounds as support act for a classic New Rock show at the Palais. That night, the Followill brothers Caleb, Nathan, Jared and cousin Matthew were a sheepish, hirsute quartet standing close to each other on stage seemingly for moral support.
Not any more. Both locally and in Britain, the Kings are an arena-size band. And formost of their fourth album the Tennessee boys have opted for a widescreen U2-like soundscape. It works surprisingly well. Use Somebody, which initially (and worryingly) sounds like a Snow Patrol single in its intro, swiftly reveals its charms - and potential as commercial radio fodder.
Every album, the Kings generate at least one classic single (i.e. The Bucket, California Waiting, On Call) and Sex on Fire is this one's immediate calling card. Then there's the rumbling Crawl, which recalls Led Zeppelin while unmistakeably sounding like a Kings track.
The band now possesses its own sound. And like Muse shedding the Radiohead comparisons, they've earned the right to step away from the Lynyrd Skynyrd analogies. Only By The Night is built for arenas, circa 2008.
Andrew Murfett