Kings of Leon – Only by the Night, a review by Ian Easton

29.09.2008

Studio trickery is always a no-go area for any true-to-roots rock band. Kings of Leon didn’t quite hit the nail on the head with their last album, Because of the Times, but luckily for them by this time the masses had already hopped aboard the Hillbilly Rock bandwagon. Yet, the new five-syllabled album Only by the Night may be quite the grower, even to the most hardcore of fans, they just don’t know it yet. Granted, it doesn’t have the abundance of monolithic tracks smothered with growling vocals about Southern Americana, and their drummer doesn’t look like a bespectacled Jesus anymore, but it’s certainly got something – the trademark KOL swagger.
What this record does have in stacks is a reservoir of landscape rock, embellished with layered and wailing primal guitar riffs. Caleb Followill’s vocals are clearer, more directed than in previous efforts. This might be due to the fact that he wrote most of the words whilst under the influence of incapacitating pain killers, or it may simply be because he is now more confident in his delivery. Maybe it’s a nice medley of the two. One thing is for sure, he may just be one of the most vital frontmen of a generation.
I first heard Crawl at Glastonbury 2008, whilst trudging through a mammoth crowd trying to find my mates. ‘Here’s a new one’ Caleb said before Brother Jared flew into the first few hugely fuzzed baseline notes. I didn’t like it. I have no idea why but it has grown on me since that mud-caked lost evening. It must prove to be somewhat taxing playing new tracks to big crowds, and a lot of bands fall by the wayside attempting to win over a wider range of fans. The first single Sex on Fire might well be a carbon copy of California Waiting from Youth and Young Manhood, but it is satisfying in a more rounded way. Somehow they have kept their trademark sound whilst not quite selling out and chasing the Yankee Dollar. Applause.
The album starts off with a bang, with the two stand-out numbers named above, followed by the epic sure-to-be-a-flagwaver Use Somebody. The vocals are layered, and the lyrics paint a selfish picture of wanting and absence. The chorus has minimal vocals, which work well with just the backing vocals wailing into the night. A great one to drive at night to as well, I would imagine.
A lot of the tracks have hints of the masterpiece that is Fans from the last record, which appears to have been a benchmark for the sound of the bulk of this album. Jared’s near-perfect baselines are key to the epic image of these songs (Manhattan, Revelry, the beautiful Notion, Cold Desert). If only KOL’s fans didn’t all listen to the songs on poor iPOD headphones, they would be able to appreciate this more.
Vintage equipment has been used again throughout the whole recording process, which is pleasing to hear, as it has been their way of doing things since the outset. The KOL group are very close nit, their cousin and guitar tech Nacho could be mistaken for a fully-fledged member of the group itself. For a deeper insight into the recording process and build up to the records release, see their Only By The Night Home Movies page on YouTube. Very funny indeed. It’s hard to imagine that Caleb recorded a lot of his vocal tracks whilst drunk.
KOL may have had time to sit back, reflect on shared STDs, arguments over women and the many, many problems that newfound stardom brings, but that hasn’t stopped them living a cultured Rock n Roll lifestyle within their family group. They are still TrailerPark Trash at heart. That must be libellous.
Only by the night is a much more melodic, mature, cleaner-in-it’s-delivery, epic sounding record than any Kings of Leon have written before. It’s certainly grown on me, and it may take time to win over their hardcore fans with these songs, but if it appeals to the masses, they might no longer care? Album sales speak for themselves at this stage in their career. Stadium Tour, anyone?

Ian Easton