"Most music gets ignored in the States unless it's hip-hop or Hannah Montana or Disney music like The Jonas Brothers," Kings of Leon drummer Nathan Followill said in an interview earlier this year. "Kiddie pop or hip-hop, that's pretty much what America is. You may turn on the radio and you hear maybe one out of 10 songs that you'd consider decent." That one song Followill alludes to could very well be his own band's scratchy ballad "Use Somebody," which has been covered now by everyone from Bat for Lashes to Paramore to Kelly Clarkson—and which, approximately 82 days after Followill publicly ripped American musical taste, went to No. 1 on the U.S. Top 40 chart.
But while Followill was critical of his countrymen, he was quick to praise the musical intake of the overseas fans who brought Kings of Leon their first taste of big-time success. "The fans are just insane in the U.K.—they are music lovers," he said. "You have kids going to shows to see the bands, not going to a show to be seen there."
Those U.K. kids who have shown up to see KOL, however, haven't been immune from criticism. Soon after angrily smashing his guitar during a show at the T in the Park festival in Scotland, singer Caleb Followill reportedly berated the audience at England's Reading Festival: Depending on the source, he lobbed some combination of "Fuck you," "We've worked hard to get here" and "We're sick of Kings of Leon, too" at the crowd before flipping them off. (Several guitars also reportedly lost their lives on this night.)
After several opening slots on arena tours, KOL have graduated to headlining status (and in style—they sold out Madison Square Garden, among other giant venues). They played industry heavyweight Clive Davis' Grammys party, Saturday Night Live and Today (where they drew the largest crowd in the history of the show's outdoor musical performances). They've been on the covers of Rolling Stone and Spin. Then they hit the top of the pops a full year after Only by the Night was released. So how did this decidedly un-hip-hop outfit become the paragon of rock bands?
"Yeah, I don't feel like we're in the mainstream really at all," guitarist Matthew Followill told The Detroit Free Press last month. "I mean I know we are now because we'll hear our song on the radio and then the next song will be Kanye West or Britney Spears. But we're definitely still in the alternative vein. We just got lucky, I guess...."
And maybe it is luck—though the grind of incessant touring seems to be catching up with them. A music writer for Houston Press observed on Twitter during the band's Austin City Limits-headlining show last week (which featured an Eddie Vedder cameo): "I love these boys to death but they don't look happy."
Whether or not their foray into the land of kiddie pop and hip-hop success has fatigued them, they've used their good fortune to help out fellow Nashville bands. They brought local garage-punkers The Ettes along on a European stint this summer (even if there was allegedly some weirdness involving the Kings' tour management and a bottle of champagne). Then they threw their support behind beloved local indie-pop institution The Features by re-releasing that band's latest album, Some Kind of Salvation, on their brand new label imprint, a collaboration between Bug Music and 429 Records. The Features will also open for KOL on a string of dates in Mexico later this fall. And local goth-rockers Mother/Father—last reviewed in this publication when they played a relatively low-key show at The End—have been granted the biggest audience of their lives with an opening slot at this week's Sommet Center show. (Kings of Leon and Mother/Father share a producer in Jacquire King.)
It remains to be seen whether the Kings' seal of approval will propel any other Nashville bands into that space between Kanye and Britney on the radio dial—The Ettes did make an appearance Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last week—but as they themselves should know, stranger things have happened.
Email sharuch@nashvillescene.com.
Readers also liked…
-
The Dead Weather are everywhere you want to be
- Jul 30, 2009
-
Playlist: The Girls' Guide to Rocking Author Jessica Hopper
- Aug 26, 2009
Comments (0)