13.

Kings Of Leon
Come Around Sundown

Come Around Sundown sees the Kings Of Leon cementing their place at the top table, at least in terms of record sales. It is also something of a creative triumph, stacked full of thoughtful introspective rock songs. It’s similar enough to the mega-selling Only For The Night to keep the punters happy, but finds room to experiment and to subtly develop the band’s sound. There’s no stand out song on the album as such – there’s no ‘Sex On Fire’ here – but that probably makes the album rather more coherent than the less consistent Only For The Night (which, I’d say, when good was better than anything on offer here, but when less good would fall well short of the sustained standard of Come Around Sundown). Kings Of Leon seem to have mined the 60s more notably here than before, most obviously on ‘Mary’, and the blues element to their sound is again closer to the forefront. A band that is increasingly a record company’s wet dream – marketable and good. I think my favourite record by them is still Youth And Young Manhood, mind, but I couldn’t have asked for (and certainly didn’t expect) anything more than I got from Come Around Sundown. Not as groundbreaking as some have suggested, but nonetheless thoroughly excellent from start to finish.