KINGS OF LEON
Because of the Times
RCA
· Whoa. Didn’t see that coming.
Kings of Leon have two commercially successful releases under their belt, but until Because of the Times, they haven’t done much to dispel the myth that they were a flavour of the month that got lucky. Because of the Times is their most dynamic album to date, but it’s also their most perplexing. Drenched in reverb, with almost no chorus to speak of, "On Call" is the least unlikely single to hit radios in decades. Still, what other choice did they have? Album opener "Knocked Up" has a subdued boogie riff with an explosive guitar freak out, but it’s seven minutes long. "My Party" mixes ’70s arena-rock riffs with disco breaks and a stellar solo, but the rest of the time, the guitar is just plain weird, made even weirder by Caleb Followill’s howling. Even "Charmer," complete with a serpentine lead guitar, staccato bass and screeching right out of the Frank Black playbook, while satisfying, is too off-putting to be a hit. Still, they must be doing something right. With a hard stereo pan in the mix, accented by more texture than is usually associated with straight-up southern rockers, Because of the Times is hypnotic and compelling. It doesn’t always work, but it’s always doing something interesting.
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