Youth & Young Manhood

Kings of Leon - Good old southern boy’s from the home of porn - a delightful deluge of cross dressing, easy women and yarns from the murky subculture of their transient youth. So the obvious question in this day and age to ask is who are they ripping off? Lynard Skynard? Yes a little. Credence Clearwater? Yes a touch here and there, there’s also a touch of the Velvet underground in the subject matter but they swagger with an exuberance and an effervescence that makes this a refreshing and vital recording. I can sense the sniggers, the chuckle as you point out the obvious clichéd reference points. But that just goes to prove even further what a triumph this debut album is, so here comes another cliché ‘better to have people talking about you (good or bad) than not talking about you at all, ahhhhhh, yes, the kings are in the spotlight, they are again being lauded by the fickle music press you say and next month it’ll be the hiss, or the rapture, or some other band named after a forgotten part of the human anatomy. Yes, a highly likely assessment but forget all that and just listen to the music. I then challenge you not to break out in an all over, foot stomping smile, that has you coming back for more and more of the same. In all their seedy glorious moment the Kings of Leon are just trying to get out, and get on, don’t deny them their story. Those who thought American youth was all about sports jackets, candy floss, cheese burgers, red convertibles, Budweiser, coca-cola, Florida, Venice beach, surfing, Molly Ringwald, the Yankees, Joe Montana, cheer leaders and thickshakes - well think again. Like a David Lynch movie these guy’s allow you to take a peek behind the glossy post cards and cheap ‘college style’ movies to a much different world populated by perverts, paedophile priests and drunken louts. It won’t be to everyone’s liking but hey, by the bands own admission ‘we just tell it how it is’.

Take opening track ‘Red morning light’ it sets the scene and provides the tempo for what is about to follow “hey hey another dirty bird giving out a taste” sings Caleb. Then there’s ‘Joe’s Head’ where the protagonist murders the guy who’s shagging his wife. Then murders his wife. Then has a fag afterwards to celebrate. ‘Happy Alone’ where you’ll find Caleb at the local whorehouse “prancing around in my high heels/And your cherry red lipstick”. Then there’s the sleazy ‘tranny’ - it involves Caleb doing coke, “cheap trick hookers” and being “tied to a chair” - but then how could any song titled simply ‘tranny’ be anything other than brilliant - it’s also the greatest song about cross-dressing since Lou Reed sung ‘Take a walk on the wild side’.

It’s been a while since such a remarkably fresh and unconscious album was released on the general public in such an unassuming way. ‘Youth and Young manhood’ is quite an achievment. It is one of the debut album since ‘definitley maybe’ and is odds on for album of the year. Ignore the hype that surronds them and enjoy the moment - they are, in the immortal words of Noel Gallagher “My new favourite f*****g band”.