:: Track Listing

1. Red Morning Light
2. Happy Alone
3. Wasted Time
4. Joe's Head
5. Trani
6. California Waiting
7. Spiral Staircase
8. Molly's Chambers
9. Genius
10. Dusty
11. Holy Roller Novocaine

:: Record Review

Kings Of Leon

Youth & Young Manhood
(RCA; 2003)

Rating: 74%
Combined Rating: 78%


The vast majority of the British mags jumped on the Kings of Leon hype bandwagon far before their American counterparts, which should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with their back story. The Kings are so custom made to grace the British press that some svengali would have to go and invent them if they didn't already exist. You've got three brothers (and a cousin) from the American South, dressed up in tight fitting vintage T-shirts and 70's facial hair, playing the style of minimalist "garage-rock" that's all the rage these days (but with a Southern flair of course!). And their daddy's a preacher. They down Heinekens with the Strokes. You can't blame the Brits for getting a little excited.

When it comes to CD prices though, sometimes a little hype can benefit the consumer. Though skeptical of their "image," I liked the first single off of Youth and Young Manhood enough that I didn't think twice about making a $7.00 impulse purchase at the local Best Buy ($11.99 at Virgin. Go figure). I've spent more on shitty EP's and import singles. And as such, if you're in the mood for a reasonably potent, if fleeting, rawk buzz, there's far worse ways to spend seven dollars than on the Kings of Leon disc. What the band lacks in innovation, they make up for in enthusiasm and swagger; making the disc especially suitable as a pre-game before a night on the town, and sort of justifying the "Southern-Strokes" label they always get tagged with.

Based entirely on their appearance, one would think (hope?) that the Kings of Leon are aiming for a kind of indie-Allmans aesthetic. But Southern pedigree and handlebar moustaches aside, the Kings' tightly wound, three-minute rock songs have little in common with the freewheeling virtuosity of the Allman Brothers, or even the AOR stylings and redneck pride of classic Lynryd Skynrd. Aside from a somewhat halfhearted attempt at a Dickie Betts sounding lead on "Joe's Head," the core of the Kings' sound is more or less New York's East Village circa 2002; leaning heavily on basic power chords and lifted Stones riffs, dirty enough to qualify for the "garage" tag, but not enough so to make you think these guys made the album on anything less than a major label dime. What manages to separate them from their peers though is a significant amount of Southern boogie injected into the best tracks, and the mushmouth vocals of Caleb Followill; chock full of youthful arrogance, and appealing in small doses.

Though relatively solid throughout, Youth and Young Manhood is a frontloaded effort to be sure, with its strongest tracks being its first four (two of which already appeared on 2002's Holy Roller Novocaine EP). Lead off track and first single "Red Morning Light" is what attracted me to the band in the first place, and with its "Jumping Jack Flash" riffing and undeniable swagger, manages to get you pretty psyched for what's to come. "Happy Alone" and "Wasting Time" are both cut from the same cloth, doling out a degree of steady boogie in the verses before going for the howling hootenanny of the chorus. Fourth track "Joe's Head" tosses the aforementioned Allmans-esque lead into the mix while offering another stellar chorus alongside amusing "caught some dude laying with my girlfriend, so I shot his ass" -type lyrics. Kings of Leon certainly give good chorus throughout the album, and any of the first four songs would seem ideal for spicing up any number of lewd table dancing scenes in saucy Hollywood productions (Jerry Bruckheimer camp classic "Coyote Ugly" immediately comes to mind).

With that said, it's not that any of the album's seven other tracks are particularly bad, but they're merely the first four songs in recycled form, and these Kings only really play one kind of song, even if they play it well. As such, Youth and Young Manhood is most ideally listened to in 15-minute chunks when you're looking for a quick buzz, or in mix-tape form, where you can use "Red Morning Light" and "Happy Alone" to add a welcome dose of swagger to the proceedings. But for seven bucks, the latter is more of an observation than a complaint. Hell, my dart tossing and pool shooting skills have been known to significantly improve whenever Youth and Young Manhood is on, and if I wasn't already in a relationship, the first few tracks would serve as a fine catalyst to get me in the proper mood for an evening of scoping the ladies. About Coldplay this cannot be said.

David M. Goldstein :: 20 October 2003 |