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| Nellcote |
The family band Kings of Leon was raised on gospel but has found its salvation with garage rock
By Steve Morse, Globe Staff, 9/12/2003
The Kings of Leon had a childhood that could make Jerry Lee Lewis blush. The band is fronted by three brothers who traveled around the South with their father, a Pentecostal minister who schooled them in religion before suffering a nervous breakdown compounded by alcohol consumption that caused him to be defrocked. It's a story that must already have producers of "Behind the Music" salivating. The Followill brothers -- Caleb, Nathan, and Jared -- spent much of their youth in a 1988 Oldsmobile with all of their belongings in the trunk. They listened
to their dad preach from town to town, while Caleb and Nathan played gospel music, joined by their dad on bass and mom on organ and piano in various churches and tent revival meetings. Later, of course, the sons rebelled and got into rock 'n' roll. Their dad, a former hippie, planted some rock seeds by exposing them to records by Bob Dylan and the Band (after their rock-hating mom went to sleep at night).
As the boys grew older, they discovered the Rolling Stones. And the rest is garage-rock history, as the Kings of Leon (their dad's name is Leon, hence the moniker) have roared into public view with a debut album, "Youth and Young Manhood," which has put
them right up there with the Strokes and the White Stripes. Some writers have called the Kings of Leon "Southern rock," but that's not true. "I don't get it either," says Caleb Followill, whose group headlines Axis tonight. No, just think early Stones, and you're closer to the group's barbed-wire, guitar-rock core, as well as to Caleb's manic vocal histrionics. "We love the Stones. We used to listen to them like crazy," he says. "We heard a little of them from our dad, but it was later in life that we really started listening, and then we bought everything they did. I love Mick Jagger's vocals."
The Kings of Leon also love Chuck Berry, Jimmy Reed, Johnny Cash, Townes Van Zandt, and the Velvet Underground. "All the music we like has a raw quality and a very broken-down quality," says Caleb, who is 21. (His brother Nathan is 23, Jared is 17, and the other member, cousin Matthew, is 18.)
Their songs represent a wild ride, often prompted by what they observed as youths traveling around and seeing both the good and bad in people. "Holy Roller Novocaine" is about a perverted evangelist who lures a young woman to his "white Cadillac" for some very secular attention. The bluesy "Dusty" is about a kidnapping, "Trani" is about a Southern transvestite, and "Joe's Head" is about a murder. There are dark themes amid the hopped-up rock energy, but also boy-girl songs such as "Molly's Chambers" that have a lighter flair.
"Some songs are all about our life and what is real, but some are just us writing a story," says Caleb, whose group received arranging help from Angelo Petraglia, a former Bostonian now living in Nashville, near where the brothers are based. (They still see their father, by the way, who is now a house painter and one of their biggest fans.)
So what does the Pentecostal crowd think of the Kings of Leon today? "I think they all pretty much hate us," Caleb says. The opposite is true, though, for rock fans who like their music to be minimalist and hard-hitting. For them, the Kings are more like saviors than lost souls.
For more info, http://www.kingsofleon.com/
[Edited by Nellcote] |
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| Jeremy Beadles Hand |
Yeah, right on, they are fucking class, and they dress like me!
Though I must point out they are not up there with Julian 'one song' Casablancas and his Strokes, they are much better than that.
The strokes are shite. nuff said. |
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| Sir Stonesalot |
I didn't bother mentioning this because I didn't think anyone would care.
I really dig this band. And from the first note of the first song you can hear the Kings love of the Stones.
I just saw them last Friday night over at Penn State. It was at the student union, and you had to be a student to get in. I took my wife's student ID and went. The kid at the door looked at the ID and said..."This isn't you, I can't let you in." I said, "Who do you think PAYS for this ID card?" He said, "Only students and a guests are allowed in." I said, "This is my wife. She is a student. I am her guest. Let me in please." But I said it with an earnestness that kind of took the kid aback. He handed back the ID and said "OK".
It was a really fun show. It was three bands, all pretty good. The 22-20's from Detroit(I think that's where they said they were from.), Jet(who had just been on Conan O'Brien the night before), and Kings Of Leon.
They all played Gibsons. The lead kid played a Les Paul, looked to be early 70's, the jangley rythmn player played an ES-335, and the bass kid played an EB(It looks like a SG 'cept it's a bass). They look very odd. Like rejects from Conan the Barbarian in tight Levi's, fake leather jackets, and Chuck Taylors. But the best thing is the sound. Man, these guys just play straight up rock and roll music. Nothing fancy, just solid rythmic fun stuff.
Now the best thing about this show was...it was free. The worst thing about this show was that it was alcohol free. In retrospect, that was probably a good thing. If I'd had a few, I woulda ended up some co-ed's sugar daddy. God I love those low rider jeans.
Go buy "Youth & Young Manhood". It gets the SS seal of approval. |
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| Nellcote |
SS, The same "Jet", the Aussie band whom opened for the Stones earlier this year? The same "Jet" whom appears on the soundtrack to Madden '04 on Playstation 2? They rock!
Leon is one of the best new I've heard in a while.
A swagger and vocal phrasing that grabs ya.
The interview above is great, typical country story.
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| Sir Stonesalot |
Yep. Same Jet.
Not bad for free, hey! |
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| Boomy |
I was looking in the new Rolling STone mag with Britney on the cover. I've noticed that in the last couple of issues of RS they recommend "Youth and Young Manhood".
"Four hairy young Southerners turn out jacked-up garage punk and scruffy blues, with help from drunken solos and singer Caleb Followill's raunchy slurs."
Maybe they still have a bit of sense in them! |
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