Kings Of Leon - Mechanical Bull

Release Date: 24 September
Label: RCA
Rating: 4,0 out of 10

Most people will remember the first time they heard their favourite band. In 2004 I discovered that MTV played decent music between 1am and 2am on a Wednesday morning. The show was called Alternative Nation, and they showcased the best indie and alternative artists and videos of the day. It was at this time that I discovered the likes of Bloc Party, The Strokes, Tegan & Sara and countless other now mainstream artists. One of the quiet mornings watching Alternative Nation while the world around me slept, a video came on showcasing a band in a barn, complete with line dancing, ten gallon stetsons and a mechanical bull. The band themselves looked like 1970's throwbacks and their sound, far from country, was straight up rock and roll in a similar vein, I thought to Creedence Clearwater Revival. The song was 'King Of The Rodeo' and the band was obviously Kings Of Leon. So started my obsession with this throwback band, fueled by later singles like 'The Bucket' and 'Four Kicks'. Their ability to create unbridled, scuzzy rock tracks with pop hooks that simultaneously displayed both their Southern roots and hailed to British musical sensibility was, at the time, incredibly fresh and unique. It was with 'Only By The Night' that I started worrying about the band. I was unfortunately not immune to that age old cliched fear of your favourite band going mainstream. The tracks became catchier, the tensions in the band came into focus and my fear was replaced by a newer one - that the band would break up having already peaked with their first three albums.

Contrary to majority opinion I felt that 'Come Around Sundown' displayed a restrained subtlety and maturity that was entirely positive and likeable. Songs like 'Radioactive' hailed back to their Aha Shake Heartbreak days of guitar laden hooks. 'Pyro' may arguably be one of their deepest, most honest and truly beautiful moments. The question was simply, if they stay together how the hell will they bridge their early, garage rock days of glory to this new stripped down, hyper produced sound? Or will they take a completely different tack yet again?

The answer came in the form of 'Mechanical Bull' - the bands fifth studio release. Armed with the single 'Supersoaker', bassist Jared told NME that the making of this album proved to be one the most lighthearted and enjoyable they've done. He even said that the process of recording the album was entirely "immature", marked by pranks done on each other.
And perhaps it's this lack of focus that has contributed to an album that is not lighthearted and carefree as much as it is, well, dull. And though it pains me to say it, 'Mechanical Bull' is the sound of cowboys who have been tamed. As one reviewer put it "growing up is great, but youth and young manhood is best". I couldn't agree more.


Track by track review:


01: Supersoaker - From it's jangly intro to Caleb's first distinctive syllable, this track has a definite 'Aha Shake Heartbreak' to it. But there's just something not quite as likeable about it. Perhaps it's the lyrical content? "I don't mind sentimental girls sometime". ....Erm...ok Caleb. Kind of a weak chorus. Otherwise an alright track.

02: Rock City - A woozy, catchy, guitar riff-lead track about womanizing, narcotics and the search of good times. Most notable about this song is the lack of chorus. Instead Matthew Followill let's loose on the stratocaster. In spite of all of this, it feels very contained. Even more so than 'Mary' off Come Around Sundown.

03: Don't Matter - The one that has got the die hard fans excited. This is probably the rockiest moment on the album; a dark(ish) tale of a dismissive Caleb. It builds slightly and has decent 70's leads (again courtesy of Matthew), but is still not a shade on anything they've done before. Still uncharacteristically restrained. And maybe because of the refrain ("It don't matter to me"), it sounds like Caleb is bored as hell.

04: Beautiful War - Turning again to a soft, country-tinged ballad (this album rollercoasters incoherently and so plays off like a set of uninspired singles rather than an album), this is another one of those end-of-the-party songs the Kings do so well (think 'Slow Night, So Long', or 'Arizona'). Again, and I don't know what it is here, it just fails to excite or move or elicit any kind of reaction. You see their point, and want to connect with it. But you get bored in the process.

05: Temple - Back on the bull again for an upbeat, 90s sounding track similar to 'The Bucket'. Basic 4 in 4 drum beat, chugging guitar lighter than air and catchy enough chorus (''I take one to the temple, I take one for yooooou''), this sounds like rock by numbers.

06: Wait For Me - In my opinion the best moment on the album. This is one of those subtly beautiful, memorable tracks that borders so closely to being epic. It is so subtle, though, that many will not pay it much attention. There's enough here to keep you interested if you can listen beyond the slower tempo. The guitars are the stars of this track, appearing in layers. There is the deep bass-y intro, the chiming echoes and then they do this thing where Matthew's guitar sounds a lot like a sitar in it's pre-chorus moment. Beautiful and strong.

07: Family Tree - We go from a heartfelt ballad to this honky-tonk, country, funky bass fest. Whiplash moment aside, this is a positive moment that builds to the same frantic screeching heard on 'Molly's Chambers' ("Oh Molly!"). But more subdued. Theme of this album I guess.

08: Comeback Story - And back to another chimey-guitar ballad moment. I feel that this track was meant to another epic moment, but yet again they have stripped it down to it's blandest elements. When Caleb sings "I walk a mile in your shoes", I just don't believe him. This ballad lacks the sincerity to be truly beautiful. It's a likeable listen.

09: Tonight - A reject from 'Only By The Night', Nathan reworks the drums and Caleb's vocals are wonderfully strained here, but again it just fails to take flight. Not a bad song, not a great one.

10: Coming Back Again - A moment similar to 'Supersoaker', there is a slight evocation of 1950s surf here, which is immediately swallowed up in that sound they have become known for. Still, if they had followed this sound with more balls, we may have had a very different album altogether. They tried. Not hard enough.

11: On The Chin - The Kings have always known how to end an album. Take it down a few notches, open up your woozy, whiskey drenched heart and let it out. They attempt that again here, complete with guitars from a Willy Nelson song, and manage to achieve something more honest and heartfelt than most of the stuff they've done on the Bull.

The two bonus tracks on the Deluxe Album 'Work On Me' and 'Last Mile Home'  are probably two of the better tracks on the entire album. A shame they weren't replacements for some of the weaker tracks.


All in all Mechanical Bull does indeed feel quite mechanical and retrained. Even more restrained than Come Around Sundown. There is little to grasp onto in terms of lyrics, and the rest of the guys do what they do best. Can't fault the music. Strangely I feel that if they had re-organized that tracklisting, it could have felt a lot more cohesive.
I haven't given up on the guys, but I do hope they will build up to the comeback story of a lifetime.
WVS.

Matthew: "Who the hell is this chick?"