Kings of Leon, Milton Keynes Bowl

When they formed fifteen years ago, Kings of Leon played with nervous abandon: their abrasive riffs were picked quick, their raw voices twanged. Their drums packed a punch. These boys were febrile and mustachioed. The only things contained about them were their legs, which were encased in improbably skinny drainpipes. 

In short, Kings of Leon were pretty rock’n’roll. They had a reason to be. The three brothers Followill practically grew up in the backseat of their father’s purple 1988 Oldsmobile. Followill Sr. was a peripatetic preacher who roamed the southern U.S. spreading the word of God. When they were old enough, Caleb, Nathan, and Jared decamped to Nashville, enlisted their cousin Matthew and started a band. 

As you might imagine, the Followill clan’s first couple albums, Youth & Young Manhood (2003) and Aha Shake Heatbreak (2004)—are pretty devil-may-care. They’re loud and frenzied rock’n’roller honky tonk. People loved them. Youth & Young Manhood peaked at number three on UK charts and sold just shy of a million copies worldwide. 

But Kings of Leon haven’t aged well. Since their debut, they’ve put out a string of increasingly well-behaved records, culminating with last September’s Mechanical Bull. Reviewers were quick to point out that the album name was unfortunate; over the past several years, critics’ main complaint is that Kings of Leon’s music sounds more and more like mindless arena rock. They’re not wrong. As a result of their success, the band have played lots of stadiums, and they’ll do so again on June 22 when they perform at Milton Keynes’ National Bowl. (The day will be a family affair: the three sisters of the smooth L.A. indie group Haim are opening for the Followills).

Are Kings of Leon mindless? Definitely. Listen to Sex on Fire, one of their most popular songs. But they haven’t always been. Milk is an enigmatic slip of a thing off of their first album. The lyrics are nonsense but, somehow, they make you feel they meant something once to the Followill boys—who have described their latest album as a return to form. Let’s hope their gig in Milton Keynes is just that.