Monday, December 7, 2009
Creamtastic All Cougars, No Cubs: Caleb Followill Laments Kings of Leon's 'Mom Jeans' Fanbase
Posted by Adam Gold on Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 2:50 PM
I love those crazy Kings of Leon the way a pawn shop owner loves junkies. Just when it's startin' to look like a slow news day, one of the brothers Followill goes and says something that's, shall I say, "candid." If forced to hazard a guess as to why our beloved Kings are not always perceived as cool by a "nob head"--something their fans from over the pond are sure to call me--such as myself, I'd say it probably has something to do with how they come off as the kind of band who are more concerned with being cool than being good. Case in point: singer Caleb Followill lamenting the growing disparity between their commercial success and perceived "cool" factor, in an interview with Spin magazine this week:
We definitely got bigger than we wanted to be...You feel like you've done something wrong. That woman in mom jeans who'd never let me date her daughter? She likes my music. That's fucking not cool. You almost start doing damage control: When people ask you to do stuff, you're like, "No, because I can already tell this record is going to get to a level where people will fucking hate us."
Despite what people might think, I don't really have much of an opinion on KOL's actual music. For me, that'd be like having some kind of strong opinion on Quaker Oats. I don't eat oatmeal. I could listen to an entire KOL record and form a well thought-out, nuanced and fair opinion on the band, or I could just listen to Odessey and Oracle again, knowing for certain that my time would be well spent.
That said, when the Kings say things as hysterical as what Followill said to Spin, I do indeed find them to be great entertainers. It sounds to me like dude is a little embarrassed by their newfound following. This is kind of what The Spin was getting at when noting that "KOL are a textbook example of a band who've eschewed their cult following in favor of reaching a general and possibly more fickle audience." It's a classic case of trying to have your cake and eat it too. KOL wanted to become the U2 of artifice-rock, and by God, that's what they've become. I doubt Bono loses much sleep over the world at large thinking he's a tool, and the Followills shouldn't either. I just find it kind of ironic that a band who've always tried so hard to be cool (kind of like that band in Almost Famous), has to simply settle for being wildly successful instead.
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It's ironic that he makes himself look uncool by talking about his struggle to look cool.
Gold, I might be reading this wrong, but i feel like there is a part of you that wants to give them due credit for questioning there massive success in the fear of losing their "indie rock" audience.
Come on, you don't have to hate them just because they're successful.
Gold, I could not disagree more. What's wrong with being honest about what you want to do with your career, or what kind of audience you want? It's not like he's saying "oh, there are too many mom jeans in the audience; we aren't respected enough." He's saying they're not as cool as they want to be. EVERYONE wants to be thought of as cool, and if you don't you're straight-up lying to yourself. I can see how moms bringing their 12-year-olds to your show could make you feel really MOR.
And that's the problem with accessible pop songs. They're, uh, easily accessible. For everone. Even moms.
KOL are mom-rock. They're like a watered down My Morning Jacket crossed with Jonas Bros. The only semi-redeeming quality they have is dude's voice sounds much older than it should a la Johnny Lang or something. I've never heard anything on CD or YouTube that suggests they're anything more than mediocre on their instruments, and they're biggest in Britain, the nation that put Mr. Blobby at #1 on the charts. It's a boy band. They were never cool to begin with, they're about as edgy as playdoh, and they'll be on the super-saver rack within 5 years, mark my words.
I kind of enjoy the fact that they're now a band that you can hear between the Proclaimers and the Cardigans over the loudspeakers at California Pizza Kitchen. True story - it happened on Friday.
EVERYONE wants to be thought of as cool
Bullshit. I've only ever wanted to be thought of as nifty.
going to CPK tomorrow (Tues), 20% of proceeds benefit McNeilly Center for Children (with flyer). will listen for KOL.
If you dont like KOL then dont write about em. Why is KOL getting their character attacked? Who gives a shit? I just think it is a shameless way to increase traffic so you can keep the ad rev comin.
@bfd your record will never be super save rack. you can only be successful and avoid that by being the beatles. that's a silly criticism.
And i agree with Janet. KOL are usually one of the only bands that comes on mainstream radio that is decent. I admit they're not the best band on the planet but they're pretty good.
quick, someone call chuck klosterman. we need some serious deconstruction of Pop Music and Irony.
Obviously I don't disagree that people want to be thought of as cool, I just think it's funny that Followill doesn't realize that nothing makes him look less cool than making a statement about his need for cool points.
Everyone wants to be cool. It seems that Followill's problem is that he doesn't think that the people who think he's cool are cool. Actual musical quality aside, KOL are getting too big for their britches. Maybe a smokey show to an audience consisting of the other bands on the bill and some bar flies at The End would put things in perspective. What they need to do is take up cocaine, self destruct, put out one last gasp record, and fade away.
When people ask you to do stuff, you're like, "No, because I can already tell this record is going to get to a level where people will fucking hate us."
Too late...seriously...I have a weird love/hate thing with KOL. I want them to do well because they are sort of from Nashville. I get pissed when they do well because there is so much better music that is actually from Nashville.
These KoL guys are high-larious!
First it's all "Americans have shitty taste in music because they don't embrace us and love us enough to send us to the top of the charts so we can sell out big arenas like over in England where British music fans 'get it'." Then it's all like "we're too big and now people with shitty taste like us and hey that's not cool."
So which is it, Kings??? You buttered your bread, now lie in it!
hahaha who gives a shit about any of these stupid arguments. kol blow massive white castle ass. they have always been mediocre and written hella boring songs. maybe they should have saved us all a headache and concentrated more on their music instead of how they look in the mirror every five minutes.
ppl need to remember that kol are from here! hence they can read this very article?! how would it make you feel if your band was talked about this way and you were ridiculed. how many of you individuals have hit records? i wish that i could hurt everyone with a song that would make you all stop this
It was just a joke. Why does everyone on the internet over react. The screwballs have spoken.
KOL just moved in around the corner from me, so I made my teenage daughter take a bike ride past the house, in tight jeans. Because I know who they are and she doesn't.
GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.GOLD HATES KOL.
we get it already.
KOL just moved in around the corner from me, so I made my teenage daughter take a bike ride past the house, in tight jeans. Because I know who they are and she doesn't.
Dear Jim Cratch the Legend,
If KoL weren't from here, couldn't they still read this article, since it's on the FUCKING INTERNET?
i saw kol at the bank cashing a million dollar check. i said "how did you make all of this money"? they replied... "selling-out sommet center that one time". then i paid my overdraft fees, went home, smashed my guitar and broke up my band that plays exclusively at the end, 5 spot and springwater.
The bottom line is that the Cream folks shit on KOL all the time because it gets more of a reaction than almost anything else they write. Hating on KOL is what hipster musicians do to make themselves feel better about their shitty band playing for 3 people at Springwater. (see the crying game's comment)
I'm not a huge KOL fan but I'm also not a hater. I don't have to hate on the Kings to validate my music taste. What this guy from KOL is saying is that their band has gotten to a level of popularity that they never expected and it's not necessarily a good thing. As an aspiring band, you want to get your music out to as many folks as possible. The downside of that is that you can't control who your fans are and your original fans start hating you for your out of control popularity. That's all, I think, he was saying. And I believe he made a very valid, insightful point.
So give the Kings a fucking break. Shitting on a popular hometown band doesn't make you any cooler, doesn't mean you have good music taste and it certainly doesn't make your shitty band any better.
They asked for it, they got it. KOL were some whiny mufuckas when they weren't huge in the states and so now they are. BFD. this is what you get when you get big in the states. being huge in Europe is totally different because most Europeans still get schooling in taste because arts are a part of everyone's education. in the states, being huge means mom jeans, reality wannabes, couch potatoes, meat heads and generally unwashed, uneducated masses. enjoy.
Phew, I was worried that a week would pass without anyone at the Cream bashing KOL. I am relieved.
cool-- knowing and behaving like your identity, value, purpose, and strength are in no way dependent upon the regard or perspective of others. You know what it takes to be cool? Wisdom and Brass Balls.
Waaa I'm KOL and no one likes us for not being cool.. waaa (GROW UP.. how about being rich and doing what you love is good enough, while most of their friends are flippin burgers. You can take the boys from the farm... but..
this dead horse has been beaten so badly that it's starting to look like john kerry. i do love that one of gold's fav bands is u2 and kol's first "big break" was opening on the u2 tour. in a roundabout way, this is all adam's fault. just kidding, he doesn't even deserve that much credit. my point is that kol doesn't give a fat fuck about nashville cream, but obviously cream cares about kol enough to write about them every single week. it's sad and funny at the same time, like chris crofton.
KOL were pretty established by the time they opened for U2. Opening for The Strokes in 2003 was their first "big break" as far as touring is concerned. Just sayin'.
KoL may not give a fat fuck about what Nashville Cream says, but it's pretty apparent that you do.
i think it's been made very apparent that the kings give a fat fuck about what the cream says
hey ryan! i care about your contribution to the music scene! your band is really going places.
also, actually, please explain. what evidence do you have to support your claim that kol gives a shit about this blog? if you are referring to their after-party in which some anonymous scene "employees" were kicked out b/c they weren't invited in the first place, please go eat a bag of 3 dicks.
Hey! The Crying Game! Thanks dudicles!
I don't think that KoL gives a shit about this blog, not one little bit. Never even implied it. I could give two shits what KoL think about anything. What I said is that they may not give a shit what this blog says, but it's apparently tearing you all to little bitty pieces.
Bag of three dicks, eh? Good one.
Here's a conundrum for you; the Cream never misses an opportunity to shit on the KOL, yet they stay on The Features' nuts like shells. So how come those guys get a "pass" for putting their record out on KOL's label and going out on the road with KOL?
@Sad Truth: Uhh, it probably has something to do with the fact that Kings of Leon make boring turd rock and The Features are actually really good. Why would the Cream hate on The Features for taking the opportunity to get their music to a wider audience? You see, people who care about music judge bands by the quality of their songs, not by their business affiliations. Catch up.
Yes, but, in an intellectually honest debate, you would have to concede that there is a slight whiff of disingenuity there.
I care about music, I judge bands by the quality of their songs, and in my view, both bands are roughly equal in terms of "quality". Meaning, I probably wouldn't squander more than 30 seconds of my life listening to either one.
I'm a believer KOL can redeem themselves on their next record, as I have come to abhor their last effort. But anyone who says they ain't got chops is a victim of jealousy or ignorance. Even if it isn't your cup of tea in the musical sense, "Aha Shake Heartbreak" was 35 minutes of captivating, original, hurtling swamp boogie that can stand beside any other rock record of the last decade.
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