| February 5, 2018 | |||||||||
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Lyrics: The dance floor’s a temptress I got my hands in my pockets
She’ll find I’m a simple stone I’d take one in the temple I feel all amiss now I’ve got my hands in my pockets I’d take one in the temple I’ve got my hands in my pockets I’d take one in the temple I’d take one in the temple I’d take one in the temple I’d take one in the temple Get It: If you’re going to purchase Kings of Leon’s Mechanical Bull (and you most certainly should) spend a couple of extra clams to get the deluxe, expanded version. It comes with an additional two tracks: Their breakout record, Only By the Night is available here: |
Today’s cut comes to you from a trio of Oklahoman brothers—and by “brothers,” we mean actual brothers, not bros—and a cousin who deliver a brand of gritty, southern-influence rock that makes me imagine what grunge would’ve sounded like had it been born in barn on a lonely Oklahoma plain rather than in a rainy concrete jungle in the Pacific Northwest. Yeah, that’s Kings of Leon. Brothers Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, and Nathan Followill and cousin Matthew Followill founded Kings of Leon in Nashville in 1999. Caleb, Jared, and Nathan are sons of a Pentecostal minister, and the band name is an ode to their grandfather, Leon Followill. Once in Nashville, the family outfit started working to hone their sound. As Nathan Followill said in an interview, “We locked ourselves in the basement with an ounce of marijuana and literally spent a month down there. My mom would bring us food down” After a month of jamming in a skunky basement, the quartet had banged out four tracks, which would eventually appear on their debut EP, Holy Roller Novocaine, and later on the full-length debut, Youth & Young Manhood (2003). According to the band, their first record’s title was inspired by a drawing of the family tree of Moses that they found hand-drawn in on of their father’s Bibles. Apparently, each branch contained verbiage that they thought would work as an album title. The band’s first records—Youth & Young Manhood, Aha Shake Heartbreak (2004), and Because of the Times (2007)—were released to critical acclaim (and were part of the massive Dances with Bass musical library, but didn’t break big. All that changed with the release of 2008’s Only By the Night, which was their breakout album that scored three number one alt-rock radio hits, including the smash, Use Somebody. In the years since, Kings of Leon has released three more full-length records, including today’s featured cut, Mechanical Bull. Their sound is gritty and melodic with a sound that is all their own. Their music is full of winks and nods at their southern heritage without that southern heritage defining them. They get lumped into the southern rock category by some, but I think that designation does them a disservice. Their sound defies pigeonholing, which means it can sit equally comfortably in a playlist book-ended by Pearl Jam and the Eagles. They’re gritty and hard when they want to be gritty and hard, and they’re polished and soulful when they want to be polished and soulful. If you’re new to Kings of Leon, give Only By the Night, Mechanical Bull, and Come Around Sundown a spin. All three records are in heavy rotation here at the Dances with Bass adult nursing facility. Video: Here is the official video for Temple:
Here is the video for Use Somebody:
And because you might thinking we’re strange for having brought up the Eagles in a post about Kings of Leon, here is a video of the Kings of Leon killing a cover the Eagles’ Take It Easy and 2017 Kennedy Center Awards while honoring the Eagles:
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