Kings of Leon

This is a bit of a departure from the political tone my Blog usually takes, but I'm kinda disappointed and angry over it, so it shouldn't seem too different.

Anyone catch the Kings of Leon's performance on Letterman last night? Their performance is here, but be warned: it totally stinks. After spending a few years of hearing people criticize them for imitating Skynyrd and Iggy and the Stooges too much, looks like they decided to change their tone. For the worse.

In their defense, they've been travelling with U2 for some time, and that can be an infectious bug. Don't get me wrong -- I like U2, but there are enough U2 imitators. I've been a naively optimistic fan of the Revival Rock genre since I started listening to the Black Crowes (other good entries include Indigenous, the Black Keys, Marc Ford, and the North Mississippi All Stars). On Youth and Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak, the Kings of Leon played fast, sloppy, unpolished, frantic, Southern-infused Garage Rock. They were great.

And now, it seems, they've traded it all in to capitalize on what used to be Indie -- they've joined the throngs of bands trying to land on Zach Braff's next soundtrack. What I've heard from Because of the Times, their new album, is overproduced pseudo-indie trash, a betrayal of what the Kings once were and of where they came from.

The Followill family sings the praises of their new album, calling it their best and calling themselves fearless in the studio, unafraid to let the music be what it wants to be. If that's the case, I suppose they're the artists, and they're entitled to produce what they want, but it probably means I'll have to keep spinning their old stuff and remember what they could have been. The album received critical accolades from Rolling Stone Magazine, proving that the magazine glorified for its Rock n' Roll significance in Almost Famous is now a hollow print version of MTV.

Not that anyone reads this, but if you do, and if you happen to play guitar, turn it up. Play loud, play proud. Don't worry about sloppy chords or messy pentatonic scales. Jimmy Page made all kinds of errors, Hendrix and Townshend respected the edge and the noise, Angus Young and George Thorogoode only have a hand full of riffs at their disposals. There's something to be said for Edge's finesse, but there are more than enough artists these days saying it. So honor the fuzz, and play until your fingers hurt.