Kings Of Leon - YOUTH & YOUNG MANHOOD

Kings Of Leon: Caleb Followill (vocals, guitar); Matthew Followill (guitar); Jared Followill (bass); Nathan Followill (drums, background vocals).
Additional personnel: Angelo (acoustic & electric guitar); Ethan Johns (guitar, Hammond B-3 organ, percussion).
Recorded at Shangri-La Studios, Malibu, California; Sound City Studios, Van Nuys, California; House Of Blues Studios, Memphis, Tennessee; Ocean Way Studios and GroundStar Studios, Nashville, Tennessee.
Though Kings of Leon hail from the South and boast a collective hirsute quality that would make CCR proud, they are neither Skynyrd-worshipping Southern rock revivalists nor country-tinged roots-rockers. Rather, their raw, shambling sound suggests a cross between the garage rock of the Strokes and White Stripes and the heartland sleaze-rock of Nashville Pussy. In fact, if the aforementioned garage types hadn't loosened up the music industry a bit, it would be hard to imagine a band as down-and-dirty as this foursome getting a major label deal. The songs aren't all blazing stompers; there are the occasional touches of acoustic guitar and piano and even a waltz tempo on one tune, but still in the same pointedly discombobulated spirit as the rockers. A hidden track on the end that sounds like EXILE-era Stones in heroin-country mode offers a hint to the Kings' deeper roots and leaves the option of sonic advancement open for the future.

• Genre: Pop
• Format: Vinyl