Third "Times" a charm

Had you asked me two years ago who'd produce the better third album, Kings of Leon or The Strokes, I'd have undoubtedly chosen the latter. Julian Casablancas and company had released one of the decade's defining records and (in my opinion, at least) an underrated follow-up. KoL's debut, on the other hand, Youth and Young Manhood, was catchy and promising but a bit undercooked, and owed too much of a debt to the garage-punk of -- yup, you guessed it -- The Strokes. Meanwhile, their Aha Shake Heartbreak was a standard "more-sophisticated-but-less-exciting" sophomore slump (and still borrowed too heavily from The Strokes). \nBut then album No. 3 came and both bands sought to reinvent themselves. And The Strokes' First Impressions of Earth…? All I can say is "ouch." However, KoL's third album, Because of the Times, finds the band developing a new loose but heavy sound -- one that's fresher and, really, a better fit with front man Caleb Followill's semi-intelligible Southern-fried tales of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Indeed, Times pulls KoL out from the ranks of CBGB's grandchildren and places them among the current champions of classic meat-and-potatoes hard rock -- bands like Queens of the Stone Age, Wolfmother and The Hold Steady. \nThings kick off with a fantastic trio of rockers: the alternately tender and fierce "Knocked Up," about running off with one's pregnant girlfriend regardless of all advice -- and good sense -- to the contrary; "Charmer," which steals the opening riff from Michael Jackson's "Beat It," sees Followill punctuating each line with falsetto screams and just builds from there; and the plaintive head-banger "On Call" (complete with ripping guitar solo). Other outstanding tracks include the spitting-angry "Black Thumbnail" and "My Party," "True Love Way" (a power ballad!) and the driving-anthem "Camaro" -- although Times' finest moment is "Fans," a tune that builds into the sort of transcendent stomp that gets stadiums of fans pumping their fists in unison. \nNot that there isn't room for improvement. "McFearless," "Ragoo" and "Arizona" are nice, but overshadowed by similar, better songs ("Charmer," "True Love Way" and "Fans," respectively). And two tracks, "The Runner" and "Trunk," scream "failed-experiment" -- the first in attempting to incorporate a gospel-folk sound, the second by bringing in jazz percussion and lame echo effects. But while Times may not be a perfect album, it's KoL's best yet -- and, hopefully, a sign of better still to come.