Royal Failure

Somewhere, inside me (well, more like close to the surface), there’s an indie snob who puffs and moans at the thought of a new Kings Of Leon album. An indie snob who thinks Caleb should grow that beard back and start mumbling his lyrics again. An indie snob who finds it unacceptable that so many are listening to Kings Of Leon now, when back in the day they wouldn’t’ve touched them not even with a ten-foot pole. And, yes, one who wants to congratulate that pigeon. But there’s also a part of me that is happy the guys are enjoying some success. A part who thinks that Only By The Night is a good album. Sure, not as amazingly fingerlicking as the band’s previous records, but a good album nonetheless.

And even so, the indie snob wins if we are talking about Come Around Sundown. Which is a whole new level of low by anyone’s standards, let alone the ones who penned Youth and Young Manhood. Yes, I will bemoan the loss of the beards and hair locks and pissed off guitar riffs and their embracing of the phrase “We want to be U2 and want to fill that stadium faster again and again”.

Sure, Followills, you can rip The Breeders’ Cannonball bass as long as you’d like and Caleb can try wailing his way through the song. But Radioactive is still a poor joke of a lead single. And it pains me to say, but Radioactive turns out to be one of the best outfits on Come Around Sundown as it is capable of lingering around. Something one can’t really say about the rest of the songs. With all the downplayed reverbs, all the cheesed out guitar solos, all the annoying aching vocals, the band’s fifth album proves to be a hit-and-miss.

The list of faults seems endless. It does require a few more plays to actually see that, well, the talent is still there but, after those plays, you also see that there is no driving force or any reason to be enthused about the album. It tries to recreate a 50s vibe, but it isn’t daring enough and gets boring and repetitive way too fast. The lyrics are not even worth quoting. Caleb said he freestyled the lines and it shows as the words are more than cringe-worthy and add up to the impression that this album is put together in a rush and not actually something they put a lot of thought into. And as if this wasn’t enough, the far-too-polished production makes Come Around Sundown a bloated album that knows nothing about the joys of sharp corners. Coming from the band who did Four Kicks, yes, it’s a very depressing thing.

And no, I will not accept the whole “new direction, band is evolving” crap. No one in their right minds should accept it. Because there are far too many times when it feels like this album is in fact a step back (hell, many steps back). It’s a lazy record, heartless most of the times and deeply unengaging. It lacks the passion of their previous work and, without that passion, it seems blatant Come Around Sundown wouldn’t stand the trial of time. And by time, I am thinking of something like “two months”.