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Kings of Leon have this thing that they do when they title an album, a little inside joke/superstition sort of deal, and it's this: The album title can be anything in the world, as long as it has five syllables (chronologically: Youth and Young Manhood, Aha Shake Heartbreak, Because of the Times, Only By the Night, Come Around Sundown, Mechanical Bull). It's a bit formulaic, sure, and limiting, but it's also a bit mysteriousthe band itself says it doesn't know how the practice beganand therefore adds gravitas, a secret history, if you will. (It reminds us of another mumbly, esoteric Southern band, R.E.M., that used to fill its releases and album artwork with all manner of musical marginalia).
There are also five syllables that tend to come up whenever critics get to talking about Kings of Leon, and this time it's not a phrase, but a word: authenticity.
Few bands have had to deal with this always-tenuous concept as the Kings. 'I always questioned Kings of Leon's authenticity, even as I liked their early music, so to me, their .38 Special-like transformation from Southern indie rock to generic corporate rock never surprised me,” wrote Mark Kemp, former music editor of Rolling Stone and author of Dixie Lullaby: A Story of Music, Race, and New Beginnings in a New South. It was in response to a question by the author on what, if any, musical connection the latest album has to the group's debut full-length, Youth and Young Manhood. The question boils down to this: Are they really a Southern rock band anymore?
But a better question might be: Were they ever? A brief survey of YouTube commentersor a majority of rock critics, including the five we surveyedwill tell you the band 'sold out” around 2008's Only By The Night (and its attendant mega-hit 'Sex on Fire”). But to hear bandmates Caleb, Nathan, Matthew, and Jared Followill tell it, they always felt that they wereor were becomingthis latter-day Kings of Leon all along. The Youth and Young Manhood 'Southern Strokes” stuff? That was the anomaly.
'I think the new record is a lot of things,” says drummer Nathan Followill. 'It's a glimpse at where we came from, where we currently are, and where we're going. It came about very organically, more so than some of the other records.
We recorded it coming off the longest break we'd ever had away from music and touring, and we were all very anxious about the headspace we were in. There was no blueprint, you know? Each day we'd go in, and whatever mood we were in, that's what would come out. But we got very lucky that it all came together. It could have been a mess. But we've never gone into a record thinking or saying to each other that it has to sound a certain way. As we change as people, the music changes. [I think] it'd be kind of odd if it didn't.”
And yet, response from some locals on the new disc has not exactly been, er, bullish. Which is unfortunate, since Nashville seems to embrace a similar hometown-transplant success story, The Black Keys. Both the Keys and Kings are now Nashville-area residents whose music has morphed since their decidedly raw-sounding beginnings. Both bands continue to serve as representatives of Nashville, in print and in more subtle ways, such as procuring from, partnering with, and proselytizing our many unique local businesses. Both have made millions of dollars and sold millions of records in the process. Why, then, do The Black Keys get a virtual free pass from the press and continue to enjoy serious street credibility even as their albums are sold at Starbucks everywhere not a half-dozen years after being mostly a word-of-mouth phenomenon (like our heroes in KOL)? The short answer is, there is no answer. KOL's adopted hometown has always had a bit of a contentious relationship with the Followill clan, despite their rather considerable civic efforts around town.
Take the group's very own label, Serpents and Snakes Records. Noting the signing of local bands including Turbo Fruits and The Features, as well as area rockers The Weeks, Snowden, and Clear Plastic Masks, Nathan says being involved with the record company, which is financed solely by the four band members, is one of his favorite perks of the band's success.
