Kings Of Leon | Album Review

Story by Dylan Bliss 

| Published Oct 26, 2010

The Followill brothers, better known as Kings of Leon, have always had a knack for splitting their audience nearly right down the middle. From an American garage-rock band that initially found success only in the UK to an area-rock supergroup that seemed to alienate its past fans, KOL certainly has been a-movin’ and a-shakin’. Five albums in seven years is a haul for any serious alternative band, especially with how colorful their catalog has become.

“Come Around Sundown” is a plea for authenticity pressed very neatly up against it’s ultra popular predecessor, “Only By the Night”. Most angst-ridden females might be bored this time around, as there is an apparent lack of “Sex on Fire’s” and “Use Somebody’s” to blast in the car on the way to the next throwdown. Moreover, the sooner the early KOL loyalists finish shaking their heads over how popular one of their favorite bands have become, the sooner they’ll realize that there may be something for everyone this time around.

The feel of “Come Around Sundown” harkens back to the sound of their first LP, “Youth and Young Manhood”. The rifts are mellow and tend to cruise meekly underneath the wailing and howling of lead singer Caled Followill. He has admitted in recent interviews to have ad-libbed most of the lyrics on this record, and it shows. Choruses consisting of lines like “Ride out the wave” and “This could be the end” belted again and again against yet another empty chord progression tend to give the listener a sense of hook-seeking desperation.

Kings of Leon aren’t new to this game, and it’s evident that they’ve tried to combat any critically foreseeable mistakes made by other suddenly-famous bands. “Sundown” is a southern beach crawl that focuses more on framing the idea of being innovative and genuine rather than actually becoming so. It’s neither a hit maker nor an effective jump-start, but thanks to a few choice tracks and more mesmerizing vocal work from the Followills, it eventually gains the capacity to stay with you.