Kings of Leon return with a four track EP – EP #2.
EP #2 definitely has a more typical Kings Of Leon sound than Can We Please Have Fun, but as a long-term fan of the band I can’t help but think they’ve lost a little of their magic in recent years. It’s four very different tracks and it’s a good EP, but when you’re a band of this experience and you’re releasing just 4 tracks, they all should be amazing.
Opening track All The Little Sheep gets off to a promising start with a pleasant little guitar intro. However, once the vocals kick it, Caleb just doesn’t quite sound like himself and when the distinctive vocals are a huge part of the band’s appeal, it’s an issue. It has this odd kind of country sound. Not like early Kings of Leon where they took those Tennessee influences and made them rockier, more like all the pieces just don’t quite fit together in terms of what the track is trying to be. It’s also lyrically boring. Where did the guy who wrote about loaning toothbrushes and bartending parties disappear to? Its highlight is the catchy chorus but it’s still a ways from their best.
I enjoyed second track, To Space. The growling, cracked vocals are back. Its heart is in the energetic drums and those distinctive guitar rhythms that are the building blocks of that distinctive Kings of Leon sound. Lyrically, it could still be stronger, but the delivery certainly helps. It’s punchier with a melody that is easy on your ears. On first listen, this was my favourite, but actually I think I just got over excited because it sounded like what I expect to hear from Kings of Leon. The next track has it beat.
Moody and mellow Pit to the Rind is beautifully put together. It’s so perfectly stripped back that there’s a level of anticipation for every guitar chord or every drum hit. Caleb’s voice is fire on this track – to the point where I’m not even listening to the words, I’m just lulled into memories of live performances of years gone by. His voice actually makes me go weak at the knees on this one, and it’s given me a glimmer of hope that the band I love is still in there somewhere.
Sadly though it then descends back into ordinariness for the final track, The Wolf. How they go from the beautifully produced Pit to the Rind to this, I’ll never know. It’s crowded through the middle, the drums and guitars are fighting for space. There’s actually this gorgeous little riff running through the background (on a synth I think) but you can barely hear it through everything else. This could have potential to be great, but it’s poorly put together which makes it hard to enjoy. Part of me wonders if this release was a boredom project while they couldn’t tour over the summer. It has a bit of a hasty thrown together feel, and probably would have worked better as two singles with the weaker tracks as the B sides. Either way, it leaves me wondering if another one of my favourite bands is sadly tending into medicrioty. (Thank goodness for Hayley Williams).