Southern rockers get Stroke-d

The Strokes meets Skynyrd label still holds true on Nashville, Tenn.-based Kings of Leon's sophomore album, Aha Shake Heartbreak, although having spent time touring and partying (as seen in the pages of Rolling Stone) with the aforementioned new school city slickers seems to have rubbed off. Much of the country flavor has been pared away (though, it's still very much present in the album's closer "Rememo"), replaced with Strokes-esque riffs, choruses, hand clapping and vocal intonations. It's as if the brothers Followill: Caleb (pipes), Nathan (skins) and Jared (slaps), and their cousin, Matthew (licks) -- their credits, not mine -- were asked, "If the Strokes jumped off a bridge, would you?" And the answer is a resounding, "Yes!" Luckily, it sounds pretty damned good.\nThere's a weird dichotomy at work on both this disc and the Kings' debut, Youth and Young Manhood. See, these youthful band mates (ranging in age from late teens to mid-20s) are the sons and nephew of a Pentecostal minister -- the titular Leon. While Leon evangelized on the road, the boys familiarized themselves with the devil's music. This furcated nature is especially apparent on Heartbreak, as the record is simultaneously cruder and more God-fearing than its predecessor. Allusions to cigarette-smoking, hard-drinking and deflowering virgins (the CD's vaginal cover art is no accident) parry with imagery of receiving the Lord's mercy and notions of bowing down upon one knee in prayer. \nUndeniably, brimstone and Bible belt make interesting bedfellows. I'm just surprised by how far Kings of Leon pushed the boundaries this time out. Lyrical violence is nothing new to these fellas -- the insanely catchy "Joe's Head," off the debut, made reference to popping a cap into some poor schmuck's dome and following that up with a smoke. Here, brutality rears its nasty head on the ferocious (both lyrically and instrumentally) "Four Kicks," in which the guitar, bass and drums literally battle one another and Caleb barks the following in a Bon Scott-esque bluster, "You get your switchblade posse/I'll get my guns from the south/We'll take to the yard like a cockfight/Four kicks whose strutting now." He continues onward in an equally aggressive manner: "This party is overrated/but there ain't shit else to do/She's a lovin' on the boy from the city/I'll be lovin' him under my shoe." It's the wit seen in the latter portion of this passage that makes things palatable.\nSexually, the album is even more adventurous. The rousing opener, "Slow Night, So Long," sports undulating guitar riffs and bass licks which slither like a trouser snake, alongside suggestive lyrics such as: "Slow night so long, she's frenching out the flavor, she's 17 but I done went and plum forgot it." The tune's milieu doesn't cease there -- "She's opened up just like she really knows me/I hate her face, but enjoy the company/ I'll take you home, or back to Oklahoma/You're not so nice, but the sex sells so cheap." If you think this is the long and short of it, you're sorely mistaken. "Soft" is one of the most sexually explicit songs I've heard since Prince found God. Ironic, as the Kings came up as Holy Rollers. While the instrumentals are pure Strokes, the lyrics are more akin to a flaccid Penthouse Forum entry: "I'm passed out in your garden/I'm in I can't get off so soft/I'd pop myself in your body/I'd come into your party but I'm soft." Sexuality is inherent to rock 'n' roll, it's just funny to hear it come from a lot of preacher's kids.\nContent aside (not that any of it's bad -- in fact, it's quite good -- just surprising), the record is rad. Under the direction of producer/mixer Ethan Johns (who oversaw Manhood), the Kings recorded live in the studio without overdubs. For a band that's supposedly better onstage than on disc, the stripped-down style works nicely. "King of the Rodeo" is hooky as hell, as is "Taper Jean Girl." The first single, "The Bucket," is even catchier. "Pistol of Fire" sounds like Creedence Clearwater Revival if John Fogerty were punched in the nuts and kicked in the ass by Satan himself. "Milk," Heartbreak's sole ballad is appropriately beatific with a fully-developed sense of desperation. "Razz" has so much forward motion it sounds as though it were cut for an action movie promo. "Day Old Blues" manages to make yodeling cool (yes, you read correctly), and "Velvet Snow" seems tailor-made for a methamphetamine-fueled episode of "Hee Haw."\nKings of Leon have already made waves overseas, especially in the U.K., where "hillbillies" serve as a novelty act. Hopefully with the edgier and altogether more formidable Aha Shake Heartbreak, they'll soon be rock royalty here in the states.