Neck and neck with Modest Mouse, but I'd say "Because of the Times" is the best record of the year so far.
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20034325,00.html
The Q&A
Son of a Preacher Man
Kings of Leon lead singer Caleb Followill is a rock and roll bad boy with an altar boy's heart
By Barry Divola
One minute Caleb Followill of Kings Of Leon is talking about the Bible, the next he's talking about brothels. In Followill's world, God and the devil seem to get equal time. Along with his two brothers Nathan (drums) and Jared (bass) and his cousin Matthew (guitar), the Kings' singer/guitarist is intimately familiar with both subjects, having grown up in the church — his father, Leon, was an itinerant United Pentecostal preacher in the U.S. South.
Now, Caleb and the boys are living the rock and roll lifestyle: touring the world in tight black jeans and pointy boots, hanging out with Bono and Eddie Vedder, indulging their love of golf, buying a little real estate in Nashville, and, oh yeah... releasing the third Kings Of Leon album, Because of the Times, which has been hailed by the critics with almost religious fervour.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What's the song you all sing together just before going on stage every night?
CALEB FOLLOWILL: It's a gospel song called ''Just A Little Talk With Jesus.'' [Sings] ''Now let us have a little talk with Jesus/Let us tell him all about our troubles/He will hear our faintest cry/He will answer by and by/Now when you feel a little prayer wheel turning/And you know a little fire is burning/You will find a little talk with Jesus makes it right.''
Just about everyone knows that your father had to leave the church because of his drinking. Was he a popular preacher in his day?
He was a big deal. He was in the upper echelon. When we walked into a church, everyone knew it. We sort of had this rock lifestyle before we became a band. It was good for meeting girls. We had our pick of the litter. The only thing is we couldn't do too much. Mostly kissing. But it taught us how to kiss, man. To this day girls think I'm a great kisser.
The name of the new album, Because Of The Times, is a religious reference, isn't it?
It's the name of a church conference we used to go to as children, and we hold it dear to us. Because of what we've done as a band and because we haven't really blown up to a level where people hate us, I think a lot of people are trying to scare us into thinking this is our make-or-break record. But they say that with every record. The title sums up everything that could potentially happen. If it's a huge record it's because of the times; if it flops it's because of the times. After I talk to you, the interviews are going to become a lot shorter, because that's going to be the answer to every question. [Laughs]
Where did you write these new songs?
I was on my front porch of the farmhouse where Nathan and I live, about 45 minutes out of Nashville. I was getting to enjoy the normal life and being at home. The last record was a lot about honesty and going for it and pushing myself into having the confidence to let people know exactly what I think. I got a lot of stuff out of my system, so with this record I was able to sit down and write about the things I really wish I had that I don't have, things that fame and all this stuff don't really bring.
And what kinds of things can't fame bring you?
It doesn't bring you a relationship that you don't get sick of after 25 minutes.
Now you're just bragging. You can last 25 minutes?
[Laughs] At times I want a real relationship and at times I don't. The grass is always greener. I see other people, both in my band and in other bands, and they have relationships, and most of the time I'm feeling sorry for them because for me the hardest thing is when the girl's not around and on the phone she's telling you what she did that day, and it's so anti-climactic. Then you get to tell her what you did that day. After a while it just seems the whole relationship is you bragging about the things you're getting to do. That's the last thing I want to do. I wish it could work, but I don't know. It'll take a while before I turn into the relationship guy, unfortunately.
So for the time being you're the 25-minute man?
I guess so. I get to have too much fun, I guess. But I've still got time to get serious. Well, I say I do, but I'm getting kind of old.
How old are you?
I'm 25. Born on January 14, so I'm a Capricorn. That means I don't like change much. Except with our music.
''My Party'' is actually about your last birthday party, right?
The chorus is. I got kind of lonely when we weren't touring, and I took a liking to Rachel Bilson from The O.C. I had my birthday in Los Angeles, and beforehand everyone kept asking me what I wanted. I kept saying, ''I don't mind, as long as Rachel Bilson's there.'' It was a total joke. Anyway, we had the party at this big club. There were a lot of people there, not just for my party, but there were other things going on there, too. We walked in, and as God is my witness, the first person I saw was Rachel Bilson. She wasn't there for me, of course. But she must have recognized us because she waved. I just froze up. She had her boyfriend of the time with her, so I couldn't just go up and say, ''Holy s---! You're here!'' So I put that in the song. Hopefully she'll read this.
The new song ''Knocked Up'' has you and your pregnant girlfriend driving off into the distance to start a new life. What's going on there?
That song started with the melody and it started chugging along, then the first thing that came into my head was, ''I don't care what nobody says, we're going to have a baby.'' Everyone just looked at me in the rehearsal room and I threw my hands in the air and said, ''I don't know what to say — it just came out.'' I think the reason I talk about having a baby is because of my fear of an actual relationship. I can actually see myself having a kid before I can see myself getting married, and I know that goes against everything we were raised to believe, but the whole marriage thing...I don't know if it really works these days, which is unfortunate. It just seems divorce is inevitable. So for me talking about having a baby in that song, it's like the glue that might keep things together, or at least an excuse to make it last a little longer.
Why did you write a song about Arizona?
I hold that place close to my heart. I love the desert and always have. But the story behind that song is kind of bad. I can't really get into it. It's about when Nathan and I went to Arizona, and...well, we had quite a few different substances in us, and we decided to go to this brothel. I guess I am telling you now, aren't I? This really is a heartbreaker. We walked in and I looked around and there was this one girl who was so beautiful that all I could think was, ''What happened in her life that could bring her here?'' as opposed to me thinking, ''Yeah! I'll take that one!''
So you left?
No. I took an ugly one. I knew why she was there.
That's a pretty heavy story from a preacher's son.
I think there's always two sides to your personality, be it when you're drunk or sober, or at home or away, or whatever. Our song ''On Call'' is about the grounded part of you. It says, ''And when I fall to pieces, Lord you know I'll be there waiting.'' You could take that in a Biblical sense. The Bible says that David, or Daniel, or one of those guys, was a man after God's own heart. But he was quite a messed-up person. So if he's the man after God's own heart, well, maybe when you're at your roughest moment, that's when He's watching over you and smiling.
11th April 2007 11:32 PM
MikeyC613
I've yet to hear it. Boy, those kids kick ass. I can't wait till I have a band that just wants to straight up rock like they do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om2CwIT2poI
Eddie so wants to be Daltrey w/ the tambourines, but shit, if I heard some decent rock and roll these days, who's to say that anybody wouldn't lose their shit right on stage?
BONNAROO
12th April 2007 12:11 AM
glencar
Love it!
12th April 2007 07:53 AM
_Boomy_
I bought it the day it came out and have yet to listen to it.
Damn it.
12th April 2007 07:59 AM
PartyDoll MEG
It's pretty good..but I actually am enjoying Bright Eyes new album better than the Kings..well for that matter, Martin Sexton, Brandi Carlile, the Fratelli's and Kaiser Chiefs's have gotten more "listens" than the Kings!!
12th April 2007 08:32 AM
Mel Belli
quote:PartyDoll MEG wrote:
It's pretty good..but I actually am enjoying Bright Eyes new album better than the Kings..well for that matter, Martin Sexton, Brandi Carlile, the Fratelli's and Kaiser Chiefs's have gotten more "listens" than the Kings!!
Oberst is a twit, but I like his writing. Need to get that one.
12th April 2007 08:36 AM
VoodooChileInWOnderl
In an interview some days before the show in Mexico City last year Mick Jagger mentioned "Kings of Leon" as one of the new bands that he likes a lot.
12th April 2007 08:42 AM
Mel Belli
quote:VoodooChileInWOnderl wrote:
In an interview some days before the show in Mexico City last year Mick Jagger mentioned "Kings of Leon" as one of the new bands that he likes a lot.
Good sign!
12th April 2007 08:57 AM
gimmekeef
quote:PartyDoll MEG wrote:
It's pretty good..but I actually am enjoying Bright Eyes new album better than the Kings..well for that matter, Martin Sexton, Brandi Carlile, the Fratelli's and Kaiser Chiefs's have gotten more "listens" than the Kings!!
Thanks Meg...for reminding me how old and out of it I really am...Never even heard of any of those musicians...Can you enlighten me with 1-2 top tracks from each so I might listen up?....Thanks
12th April 2007 10:51 AM
Saint Sway
the new record is great.
KOL is the best rock band today.
thanks for posting this interview. Besides the great songs, one of the things that draws me to KOL is Calib's open honesty in interviews. He'll answer any question honestly. No matter how it makes him look. He just doesnt care. Thats cool.
heck, in the RS interview he talked about not being able to get it up with a chick because of doing too much blow.... I'm sure he's a publicists nightmare at times but its great to hear a rock star thats so candid and honest.
12th April 2007 11:00 AM
PartyDoll MEG
quote:gimmekeef wrote:
Thanks Meg...for reminding me how old and out of it I really am...Never even heard of any of those musicians...Can you enlighten me with 1-2 top tracks from each so I might listen up?....Thanks
Anything for a friend!! Here take a listen and give your opinion:
thanks for posting this interview. Besides the great songs, one of the things that draws me to KOL is Calib's open honesty in interviews. He'll answer any question honestly. No matter how it makes him look. He just doesnt care. Thats cool.
heck, in the RS interview he talked about not being able to get it up with a chick because of doing too much blow.... I'm sure he's a publicists nightmare at times but its great to hear a rock star thats so candid and honest.
They've milked the Pentacostal backstory like pr champions. As great as they are, I wonder how much attention they would've gotten without such a copy-ready personal history...
12th April 2007 02:37 PM
gimmekeef
MEG...Thanks for the links...some good stuff there...I'll be checking it out.Always nice to expand horizons....
12th April 2007 08:17 PM
sammy davis jr.
I love KOL but the new record does nothing for me...at least not yet. I was reading the lyric booklet as well and the writing is a joke.
12th April 2007 08:36 PM
Mel Belli
quote:sammy davis jr. wrote:
I love KOL but the new record does nothing for me...at least not yet. I was reading the lyric booklet as well and the writing is a joke.
I was cool to it at first, too. You've gotta sit with it a couple times.
12th April 2007 08:58 PM
pdog
quote:Mel Belli wrote:
I was cool to it at first, too. You've gotta sit with it a couple times.
I liked it first spin, i've only spun it once, I'm putting it on right now...
12th April 2007 09:32 PM
Mel Belli
quote:pdog wrote:
I liked it first spin, i've only spun it once, I'm putting it on right now...
I'm liking it more with each listen. The thing that strikes me most about it is that they're not just bashing around the songs. They build up gradually, sometimes quietly; every little guitar lick and bassline is plotted out, and very "written." It feels like there's an "a-ha" moment when every track sort of unfolds and reveals itself.
13th April 2007 07:15 AM
Mel Belli
Apparently Mick went to one of their shows:
The Irish Times
April 13, 2007
Kings of the road
Kings of Leon's third album is another strange, kaleidoscopic truckstop along the way to immortality. Matthew Followill talks Mick Jagger, beards and the road less travelled with Kevin Courtney
It's like something out of an old sitcom - the Beverly Followill-billies, perhaps. Four country boys from the sticks gain entry into the gilded palace of rock'n'roll stardom, where the rock intelligentsia are queuing up to see them play, and mighty fine-looking ladies are queuing up to show 'em a real good time. It's all too good to be true - something's got to sabotage it. But who'd have thought it would be the Followills themselves who would try to throw away every chance of becoming household names?
The Followills have always resisted taking the path of least resistance. In their adopted hometown of Nashville and in the US at large, they're still an obscurity, and few in the wider world are quite sure what to make of their rip-roaring, country/indie/punk sound.
Their debut album, Youth and Young Manhood, says Matthew, "we liked for about 10 minutes, even when the cool reviews started coming out. It was great that people liked the album, but we didn't like that southern thing that everybody latched onto. So we tried to change that for the second album."
Aha Shake Heartbreak was the sound of a band eager not to rest on their laurels, but to push beyond the boundaries of their southern roots and make music that showed a more worldly wisdom. They liked that one, says Matthew, for "about 30 minutes".
For their third album, Because of the Times, the boys decided they weren't going to take the well-trodden trail, but struck out for the swamplands to create a dense, uneasy record that will have listeners scratching their scraggly beards in bemusement.
They're shooting straight from the hip with such songs as Charmer, McFearless, Black Thumbnail and The Runner, and bypass the usual verse-chorus-middle-eight route on such beaten tracks as Knocked Up, On Call and My Party.
It's not the most immediately accessible album on the rock CD racks, but give it more than one listen and you'll quickly see the light - the Followills have their eye on the long road, and Because of the Times is just another strange, kaleidoscopic truckstop along the way to immortality.
For the Followills, the road stretches out through 2007 and well into 2008, as they gear up for the extended tour schedule built around the new album's release. Having criss-crossed the Deep South in the back of their preacher dad's truck, the prospect of months in the tour van holds no fear for the Followills.
"We've been making the new record for almost a year now, so we're good and ready to go out on the road. I'm looking forward to it," says Matthew.
When Matthew joined his three cousins in Kings of Leon, he was just 17; now, at 23, he has clocked up more miles than a globetrotting veteran, as his band have played support slots to the likes of Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam, The Strokes and U2.
"When I joined the band I didn't even know how to play - the other guys called me and said 'do you want to play?'," says Matthew. "Caleb and Nathan were playing country music at the time - they wanted to make some money, and knew it would be easy to write a few country songs and get gigs on the local circuit. But then Jared and me came along and showed them some rock stuff, Velvet Underground, The Clash. Even the Rolling Stones came into it, and soon we were listening to nothing but rock'n'roll non-stop. They felt like real bad boys doing that, 'cos growing up they weren't allowed to listen to rock'n'roll."
Since Mick Jagger came to one of their gigs, there's been a steady stream of rock'n'roll legends turning up to check out this band of brothers with a neat line in southern fried punk.
But the Kings have an on-the-road rule: nobody is allowed to tell them who's in the crowd before they go onstage - it'll only make them more nervous. "One time, Jimmy Page asked if he could come onstage and play a solo. But I was just way too nervous, so I told them to say anything to him, but don't let him come up. I just couldn't get my head around it - Jimmy Page wanted to come up on stage and trade licks. Now, I'm sorry I didn't let him."
Nowadays, the foursome are based in Nashville, but don't expect to find them hanging out with the elder lemons of country music. Even when their music had a pronounced southern twang, it was far too out-there for your typical Charlie Daniels Band fan; the new album puts them way outside the pale, and even rock fans may find it hard to wrestle with the heavy monster sounds emanating from its grooves.
Collaborator Angelo Petraglia (see panel) has largely taken a back seat for this outing, leaving the boys free to explore. The music, says Matthew, is fuelled by Joy Division and Interpol, but also by the Cure and U2. While the reviews have been largely positive, the feeling is that, while the band's fans will follow them down this darker path, not many more will attempt the perilous journey.
"I try not to read into reviews too much," muses Matthew, "and I never worry about losing fans. If we lose 1,000 fans cos they don't like the album, we'll gain 5,000 more who will like it. I have huge respect for bands like Arcade Fire and The Killers who take a risk. I really loved The Killers' first album, and while I'm not as big a fan of their second one, I wouldn't have wanted them to just repeat the same formula."
Oddly enough, as the band's music matures, the guys in the band are looking younger than ever - they've either made a pact with the devil (very plausible, given their almost eerie onstage chemistry) or (more likely) they've shaved off the beards to reveal the fresh, youthful faces beneath the bumfluff. "We were just starting to feel a bit too scruffy, so we lost the beard," explains Matthew. "We got tired of watching Jared looking clean-shaven and getting all the girls."
Power behind the throne
When the band signed to RCA, they acquired two mentors - producer Ethan Johns and songwriter/producer Angelo Petraglia - who introduced them to a smorgasbord of classic rock and showed them a few sonic tricks. Petraglia also co-wrote the band's songs, leading to accusations that Kings of Leon were a manufactured band. For the Followills, this was like calling Brian Wilson a fake because he used a lyricist. "He was like the fifth member of the band," says Matthew.
"He'd put a record on and say 'listen to this guitar sound', and he'd introduce us to stuff we hadn't heard. We trusted his opinion. But It's not like Angelo would come to our house and tell us what to play. We would come in with half of our song done and he'd maybe suggest to put a bridge there, or say, 'try this'. It wasn't like he was writing our songs for us."
13th April 2007 10:13 AM
Lord Homosex
To me it's good to see them talking openly about Angelo. Because I too got real suspicious of them at first when I saw him in the credits, knowing what what he does. And seeing their age, hearing the maturity in the songwriting I got disillusioned. I was "Oh man finally a really good band and now they are plastic." But I learned quickly I was wrong. And then seeing Mattew F talking openly about his role is good. KOL are really a most excellent band. haven't heard the new one yet; only because I don;t have the money to buy it yet.
13th April 2007 11:14 AM
Mel Belli
13th April 2007 05:17 PM
Factory Girl
quote:glencar wrote:
Love it!
I can't say that yet. I need to immerse myself in a KOL live show.
13th April 2007 05:20 PM
Saint Sway
I really love it. Whole album is great. It rocks. Gets better and better with every listen. True Love Ways is great. I'm imagining that Charmer would be sick live.
13th April 2007 06:22 PM
Mel Belli
I'm digging on "Ragoo" now.
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