“Only by the Night” is the fourth full length album from Mount Juliet, Tennessee’s own Kings of Leon.
These four Southern rock revivalists have been hip on the indie scene ever since their 2003 debut album, “Youth and Young Manhood,” but they’ve only begun to cross over into the mainstream in recent years.
With their song “Taper Jean Girl” being featured in “Disturbia”
and songs also appearing in ads for Ford Motors, the Kings have begun the process of permeating
themselves into our popular culture. This album completes that process.
The Kings have always been a meat-and-potatoes kind of band. In past albums, they have used their raw and guttural sound to deliver songs about teenage love, failed expectations
and the complications of celebrity.
The four piece trade in their usual live-cut sound for a more polished studio-heavy vibe in “Only by the Night.” The resulting album is a rocking mix of indie street-cred and radio playability.
The lead-off single “Sex on Fire” has more hooks than a tackle box. It’s as raunchy as it sounds, and it pulls listeners in with Mr. Brightside guitar riffs and front man Caleb Followill’s trademark yowling voice.
It’s definitely one of the catchiest
singles in recent releases and it definitely deserves a home on your iPod this fall.
Followill also channels U2 in the song “Use Somebody,” a stadium-filling epic about love and wanting to be loved that sticks with you long after it’s gone. The boys even get a bit political on “Crawl” with lines like: “The reds, the whites and abused, the crucified U.S.A, as their hypocrisy unfolds, oh hell is surely on its way.
Another high point of the disc is “Revelry” which is a slow and dreamy song that builds and grows into something bigger
than itself.
Also equally great is “17” which chronicles the ups and downs of being in love with an underage girlfriend, which is something I am sure that the brothers Followill have had their fair share of.
The new and improved sound that Kings of Leon has adopted has left some fans crying that the band has sold out, but I believe the boys are sounding better than ever.
If you have the money and time to spend in the studio, then why not put it to good use? The only thing that keeps me from giving this album a perfect score is that it’s a little on the short side, and the first half is clearly superior to the second.
This is hardly a problem because there’s good stuff to be heard all around. The Kings have grown so much in their sound, and this album is clearly one of the year’s best.
If you haven’t heard of the Kings yet, now is definitely the time to do so.
If you’re a Kings fan already, then you either already have this album or you have been living under a rock. Either way, you’re in for a treat.
EEEE 4 stars out of 5

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