I feel like I have a very strange relationship with Kings of Leon, so maybe I’m using that as the excuse for waiting so long to listen to their latest album, Can We Please Have Fun.
Overall, I am a fan of the band’s music, though their personal lives do seem a bit strained at times. Sure, I recognize that not all people can get along all the time, but I just find it weird that I know it about these guys. Being related probably doesn’t help, but from my perspective that just makes it more awkward. I canalso admit that I’m salty that I still haven’t had the opportunity to see these guys live. Several times it’s been due to cancellations, and last year the show was playing on the same day as three others.
With all of that being said, I actually really enjoyed this album. Comparing it to what I’m used to from the band, it had a bit of a retro feel, but it was also generally a very chill sounding album. Actually, now that I come to think of it, they don’t really have a sound that I would peg them for over and over again. Yes, they are a rock band, but they are definitely more digestible to a lot of people. I would put them more in the camp of alternative rock because they do tend to play and experiment with lots of different sounds. Something else that set this record apart is that they had music videos for all of the songs! I freaking love that.
There was definitely something to like about every song on this record, so there were really no weak ones in the bunch for me. Of course, some stood out more than others. One of their singles, “Mustang,” while at first didn’t appeal to me, I really came to like the stripped back portions of the song and I laughed every time the lyric, “are you a mustang or a kitty,” came up. Similarly, “Actual Daydream” had a more prominent western vibe to it, which isn’t my style, but the bass at the very end of the track was so sweet.
There were a lot of strong tracks on the record, but for me, the ones that took the top spots belong to “Nowhere to Run” and “M Television.” The latter really made me think of White Reaper, though they sounded nothing alike, but it was just a really solid rock song. The former was a kind of groovy that I would never expect from them, but it really, really worked! “Nothing to Do” was reminiscent of Interpol and Arctic Monkeys, but it earned bonus points for its home video style music video.
I think what really stood out on this record was the tracks it chose to open and end it with. “Ballerina Radio” was a perfect edge of your seat song, where the vocals were soft but strong and it all built up to something more exciting than I was first led to believe. “Rainbow Ball” was also the perfect song to seamlessly follow the opening track. It had a neat sounding guitar static playing constant in the background of the entire song, though the song itself reminded me of something a it older. The closing track, “Seen” had an amazing dirty sounding bass with guitars going back and forth at the beginning that sounded so cool. But for whatever reason, this song’s pre-chorus made me think back to my middle school and high days of what listening to music felt like. It’s hard to explain, but the synth part gave me goosebumps and I couldn’t help but hear a little bit of an Arcade Fire influence in parts.
All in all, this was a good listening experience and I’d like to roll through it a few more times. Who knows, maybe seeing them live is in the cards of my future? But this is definitely a solid album worth some of your time.