Kings Of Leon - Holy Roller Novocaine EP

From hanging drywall to the music industry: The Kings of Leon have come to stake their claim for the South, and show the music industry you don’t have to come from up North to have a voice. It’s stripped-down rock ‘n roll for the working class, people. The Kings keep it all in the family, with three brothers and one first cousin, all with the surname Followill, filling out the band. While their self-professed label, “country-punk, garage, family band,” may be a tad tongue-in-cheek, it perhaps hits the nail on the head. You can hear influences ranging from their nomadic, Pentecostal upbringing in “Holy Roller Novocaine,” to Creedence Clearwater Revival in “Molly’s Chambers,” to early Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers in “Wasted Time.” The Followills are no stranger to melodies either, with the spacious choruses of “California Waiting” and the heartfelt refrains of “Wicker Chair” hanging around to haunt you. Judging from the five tracks on this EP, the Kings Of Leon are poised to thrust America into a “North vs. South” rock ‘n roll civil war. The sides are being drawn, but I got $20 on Kings of Leon [www.kingsofleon.com]