Kings of Leon
Aha Shake Heartbreak
Kings of Leon has been nicknamed "Lynrd Strokes" after the release of its first album, Youth and Young Manhood, which blended Southern rock and garage band alternative rock. Since the Nashville quartet has released Aha Shake Heartbreak, the band seems to have drawn from more diverse influences and turned the lyrical content more inward. It has built a fairly respectable 'sex, drugs, and rock' n' roll persona', but Aha Shake Heartbreak showcases some of the band's vulnerabilities and insecurities.
band's vulnerability and their They do a pretty good job of knocking down their reputation as Caleb Followill croons about his receding hairline and erectile dysfunction ("Soft"). Furthermore, the band deviates from their
Southern- rock twang for a broader mixture of sounds. From soulful blues to post punk attitude and even a little bit of what can only be described as maybe "skat yodeling" ("Day Old Blues"). The album has hints of The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. A Steven Tyler-esque yowl can even be detected during the chorus of their first single, "The Bucket." This may sound a little derivative, but Kings of Leon manages to take lessons from some of rock's greatest and turn it into something all its own.
thing all its own. The album is poignant yet bawdy, classic yet progressive, cocky yet relatable.
Recommended for fans of: Mason Jennings, Wilco and Ben Kweller
Grade: B
—Joe Sibinski
Mogwai
Mogwai Government Commissions: BBC Sessions 1996-2003 Matador
When I saw Mogwai play last year in Nottingham, I managed to scam my way past security onto the opposite side of a barricade (using my camera as a prop) so that the band's warmth was glowing only a few glorious feet away. The band drank red wine the entire show as if it was no big deal and generally kept things tidy as the members hovered through their set list. I'd always heard rumors about how loud of a band Mogwai was, but you're never really prepared for something of that magnitude until you actually feel it growling inside of your chest. They pounded the brains out of the back of my skull as I held onto that barricade, fearing that I might be sucked up into the black
hole of bottom-feeding melodies coming from the buzzing stacks upon stacks (upon stacks) of speakers that surrounded the stage. It was deafeningly beautiful. After the show, my friend Phil and I found an all-night pool hall where we proceeded to drink Pepsi for about five hours in an attempt to recover from the oceanic rock onslaught we had witnessed together.
Government Commissions attempts to capture these seamless textures of the band in a live environment (at least for a few of the tracks). The 10 songs selected for the album (mostly performed for the late-great broadcaster John Peel, to whom the record is dedicated) work like a Mogwai greatest-hits collection and provide a nice sampling of what these boys from Glasgow have done for the world of instrumental music in the last nine years. Most of the songs stick closely to their album versions, with a few subtle exceptions where the band allows themselves some exploratory flexibility, the results of which are worth the purchase.
Recommended for fans of: Slint, Sigur Ros and Sassy
Grade: B+
—Ryan McBee
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