KINGS OF LEON

The band that turned Dusty Springfield gay. The Kings of Leon are three sons of a preacher man (plus a cousin) that got picked up by the NME and heralded as this month's "best band of all-time". Like most of NME's flavours of the month the Kings of Leon are, of course, a pretty good band and this album IS one of the best debut albums of recent years but there is a nasty stink about this whole project. I have a friend involved in the music industry at the moment - his band are signed on a prominent rock label - and he tells me all kinds of horror stories about the current state of the music industry and the scheming of the record companies behind it. We all know about manufactured pop music and how terrible it is that these kids just get thrown together based on their looks, have some decent pop tunes written for them (which then get passed on to the next new band after the previous one has lost its impact), and get marketed to the gullible kids who fall for it hook, line and sinker. Well it appears the rock industry is hardly any different. This album is produced by someone called Angelo who not only arranged all the songs (without any input from the band at all) but also co-wrote every single song with them. Now we all chortle when someone like Justin Timberlake mentions his co-writing credits 'cause we all know what he means is he wrote a couple of banal, simplistic rhyming couplets and everything else (the melody and so on) was written by a professional working for his record company. Now I ask you, why is this album any different? Clearly the record company saw something they could market to the trendy indie kids (Southern God-fearing folk playing incendiary rock'n'roll with a healthy dash of country rock authenticity) and polished up the product (ie. manipulated the band) into something presentable. I wouldn't be surprised if they even told them how to cut their hair and what leather jackets to wear. I don't want to get drawn into history lessons but you must wonder what would have happened if this was happening back in the sixties. If the record company said to Dylan "yeah, we can make you a star but you've got to do what we say and that means no folk/rock'n'roll crossover or silly, surrealist lyrics" where would music be now? Anyway, I'm left with a problem. For all my holier-than-thou bitching I listen to this album and I know it is great. Whoever this Angelo fellow is he sure knows how to write a catchy hook. Furthermore, the shtick of the Kings of Leon is a brilliant one - in a corporate Coca-Cola kind of way. They've got the Strokes' moves but obviously with a bourbon-soaked frazzled country twinge and concise Allman Brothers guitar trade-offs. The singer has a unique affected Southern drawl that immediately sets the Kings out from the New York stylings of most trendy garage bands. Certainly, there's no doubting that the record company went to great lengths to ensure there is a sufficient distance from the Strokes (and the White Stripes for that matter) to make the Kings of Leon stand out in their own right. There is not actually a huge amount of traditional country influences with the vocals actually being the most obvious signifier of their supposed origin. The brilliant "Happy Alone" does feature some form of country boogie for its central hook and, in that respect, draws stronger on the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers than Gram Parsons or even Johnny Cash. Actually, I guess southern rock would be a more accurate term than country rock. Certainly not rebel rock, though. I forget what the singles were but they could have been any one of eight tracks as the Kings/record company ensure that every single song (bar the ballads and the lack-lustre "Spiral Staircase") crams in an instantly infectious melody bound to get those hipsters dancing at their trendy indie clubs. I'd wager "Red Morning Light", "Molly's Chambers" and "Holy Roller Novocaine" all got some serious rotation on MTV2 as they appear to be the most commercial of the best numbers and those most steeped in traditional garage rock precedents. The highlight of the album for me, though, is tracks two through to five - "Happy Alone", "Wasted Time" and "Joe's Head" - all of which feature brilliantly catchy hooks but sounding just authentic enough for me to momentarily believe they wrote them off their own backs. Basically, if you want to buy one of the best albums of the year and find out what the "next big thing" sounds like then buy yourself a copy of this album. It IS great, I simply cannot deny that. While you're at it, though, pick yourself up a copy of that latest Justin Timberlake album 'cause you're getting the same deal. You know, I'm starting to think the world would be a better place if people stopped watching MTV2.

From: David Cook

After doing some digging around, I found out that this "Angelo" bloke, who is actually called Angelo Petraglia, also writes for lots of other 'bands' including Faith Hill and The Mavericks. I found this quote by him, "You go into a room with someone you may or may not know and write songs. Monday through Friday. It's a job. My friends in Boston think it's the strangest concept." Feeny, we've been had.
I think the question that has to be asked is where do you draw the line. At what point does a band become as false as those we sneer at, the McBands that are pumped out of a Waterman backed cloning warehouse. What makes a band viable? Well, I suppose it is that they write their own songs (so its is their emotions that you empathise with). Are the Kings Of Leon any more worth listening to than SClub? You tell me, you're the reviewer. I am merely a consumer.
Now where did I leave that Steps CD.

[Rest assured, a letter of complaint is winging its way to my local MP as we speak. Seriously, though, it is obviously a disappointing aspect of the record industry and it sends out mixed messages over the value of art in the new millennium. It is just a shame the album is so good. - JF]

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Email me at: jackfeeny@yahoo.co.uk