Now we’re talking.
The Followill brothers (and cousin) return to form on their sixth album, honing their love of classic rock into a BS-free set of songs that disavow their “Use Somebody” days and try to reclaim their original audience. Those who wrote off Kings Of Leon after the tepid Come Around Sundown are hereby advised to return to their band, because the band has returned to them.
Mechanical Bull rarely sounds labored or forced; it is the work of bros playing their favorite classic rock songs in their garage, then producing them to an arena-ready sheen. “Supersoaker” pretty much rewrites Springsteen’s Born To Run in a killer three-minute single, lacking the gravity of the Boss in its just-past nonsensical lyrics, but equally as life-affirming in its sound.
Bruce, early U2 and Neil Young influences pop up heavily on this record. “Rock City” is a blues-soaked bar band rocker inspired by Mott the Hoople and some goofy lyrics (“I can shake it like a woman,” reveals Caleb Followill), “Don’t Matter” is nearly punk rock and the slower “Beautiful War” recalls both The Joshua Tree and, in its story, those relationship moments when you fight but know you have something worth fighting for. The fun “Family Tree” adds a bit of funk to the mix as well. No rewrites of “Use Somebody” here, thank God.
The disc is least successful when the band tries for its Only By the Night sound. Although Caleb tries mightily to make them work, “Tonight” and “Comeback Story” are pretty weak, the latter sounding like background music for an ABC drama. But “Coming Back Again” redeems these, its driving post-punk beat and anthemic feel coming straight from U2’s War and offering a simple message of rediscovering love.
This album asks you to kick back, go for a drive, turn up the volume, let it loose and let it down and just rock. There are no rewrites of pop drivel, nothing attempting a Statement, little that will change your life. Some have complained that this makes the band sound like they are on autopilot, but they’re missing the point: The intent is not to make the Top 40. The intent is to rock out, maybe make you whip out that lighter and hold your girl a little closer.
There is nothing mechanical or bull about this album. This is good rock and roll, the Kings Of Leon album for people who don’t like Kings Of Leon.
