SO glad I bought this. AC/DC meets the Avett Brothers. The universe's answer to Bon Scott's death by misadventure.

Sort of like binge-drinking with friends and staying up all night to see the sunrise, these songs evoke rare moments when the visceral absurdity of the world is illuminated with elegant, manic clarity.

Like Kurt Cobain, there are several moments where the singer is more interested in the sound of his throat cracking or shredding to pieces than forming neat and pretty words. Either you can surrender your ears to this sort of thing, or you like your songs a little more predictable and digestible.

KOL are all about FREEDOM, freedom from coherent speech, freedom from technical proficiency, freedom from standard song structure. Their songs are the musical equivalent of clips from David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino movies. And maybe a couple of Japanese Ninja movies.

But unlike any other garage/punk act out there today, their music has the pervasive underlying machismo and confidence of a legendary classic rock act. I guess it's a Southern thing that people from New York drown in neurosis to emulate.

To the untrained ear, these guys seem unschooled and musically naive and the songs seem basic, but these guys are geniuses when it comes to subtle tweaking of standard pop/rock arrangements. If you're a musician, you'll find several moments of saying "Oh, that's clever..."

Long story short; this isn't an AC/DC album, it's not a Modest Mouse album. It's definitely NOT a Strokes album.
If you're thinking about buying this cd, I promise Kings of Leon will change your life. They're HUGE in Europe, and they changed my perspective on this art form. They're one of THOSE bands.

do i really need to say anything more? One of my fav disks by one of my fav bands.

New different sound that picks up some great influences - Strokes meet the Velvet Underground meets the "I don't give a @#$% what you think of my music" creativity of Jeff Buckley.

These guys are an open channel and both albums are must haves. Listen over and over - you'll get it.

If you don't understand this band or Caleb's phrasing - you were probably one of the people who thought Jeff Buckley's Grace album was crap.

This is the band to watch for the next decade. Enjoy.

Very basic rock and roll. I get the impression that these guys barely know how to play their instruments, and their singing is not particularly "schooled" either.

If you're looking for some simple rock, with a touch of folk here and there, this might be for you. Sort of Bob Dylan meets The Strokes.

Some of the tunes are quite engaging. But on the whole, it all seems sort of trite.