No Filler Music Podcast - Ep 03: Kings of Leon - Youth & Young Manhood

Episode Date: February 4, 2018

In this holy rollin', blues-heavy episode, No Filler takes a nostalgic look at Kings Of Leon's debut album "Youth & Young Manhood". We also touch briefly on the relations between gospel music and the early origins of rock 'n' roll. For more info, check out the shown notes: https://www.nofillerpodcast.com/episode/ep-3-kings-of-leon-youth-and-young-manhood Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Try and go back. You know you could have been a wander. Take in your suckers to the sky. And welcome to no filler. the music podcast dedicated to sharing the often overlooked hidden gyms that fill the space between the singles on our favorite records. In each episode, we'll dive into a little history of the artist and the album of choice, with snippets from interviews and concerts, as well as music from the album itself. On this week's episode, we're going to be diving into Kings of Leon's 2003 debut album, Youth and Young Manhood.

I'm here with my brother, Travis. As per yuge. How you doing, buddy? What? As per yuge. You like that? Yeah, I'm doing fine. I'm doing just fine.

I'm excited to talk about Kings of Leon. I think they were a pivotal band in our youth in young manhood, Q. Look at what you did there. Just right off the bat, bro. I agree. Especially, this album in particular, man. I can still just listen to it. You know what, man?

This might be the first legitimate no-filler album that we've covered so far. As far as literally every single song on this record is a true no-filler song. Yeah, there's no bad tracks. All the way through, it's a great listen, man. It's a blast. Yeah, I agree. So Kings of Leon is a band that really exploded. around 2008, 2009.

That's when they hit the world stage and their songs were blasting on every radio station, every hit radio station, and that's when they started seeing critical success. Our first introduction to them was in 2005, 2006, perhaps, when we saw them open for the strokes.

And we'll talk about that more when we start the episode. But first, Actually, Travis, you're definitely wrong on that, man. How wrong am I? We knew about Kings of Leon before Ah-Hake Harper came out. And that came out in 2004. So do you think we saw them in 2004?

No, we saw them in 2003. I looked up the exact tour. Nope. So we were 16? Yeah. Okay. So Room on Fire So Backtrack

We saw Kings of Leon open for the Strokes And they were the supporting act For the Strokes Room on Fire album which came out in October of 2003 I looked it up We saw them in November of that year Okay so that was Yeah

So Room on Fire just came out So and they had just put our youth and young manhood Right or were they still touring off that EP? No, they were touring for Youth and Young Manhood because Youth and Young Manhood came out in July of 2003 in the UK and August of 2003 in the U.S.

Yeah, so they were touring for youth and young manhood. All right, all right, Q, so let's hold off a little bit and do what our little weekly segment here that we call What You Heard, where we like to pick a band that we've been listening to lately and kind of just share our track before we get into the meat of the episode. So Q what you heard and what you've been listening to lately.

Yeah, so I've been listening to a lot of, like, just because of Kings of Leon, I've been listening to a lot of like Southern rock, bluesy stuff over the last week, just kind of, well, I've been, you know, researching these guys. And one band that I actually had listened to a while back, They're called Lonesome Shack. I believe it's just three dudes.

They're based up here in Seattle. They're just like, I think they're described, they've described themselves as like haunting blues. Haunting blues, okay? Yeah. Haunted boogie and blues is what it says. It says primitive rock haunted boogie and blues on their bandcamp page. Okay.

So it's that kind of. Now what's the name of the game again? So they're called Lonesome Shack. Lonesome Shack. I think I have an idea of probably what they mean by primitive rock, but keep going. Well, they actually have an album that came out in 2014 called More Primitive. So probably what they mean is they are completely stripped of effects and all that stuff. It's not going to be over processed, kind of like in the way that the white stripeds would record.

their stuff, you know. Right, right, right. Bare bones kind of blues. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Which is how it should be. If you're going to do some, if you're going to do blues, yeah, I agree. Yeah.

So I'm looking at it up now. It's actually just two guys. It's Ben Todd who sings, plays guitar, and Christian Gerard, who plays drums. Okay. Okay, so it's like, okay. So it's like the white stripes. Well, no, that's like the black keys. Yeah, exactly, black keys.

It's a strip down. Bare Bones blues That's my favorite kind It's like It's the It's the The blues that Samuel L. Jackson sang on the movie Black Snakebone

Okay That's the kind of blues that I love That's the only kind of blues that I really like And it's actually Harder to find blues like that than you'd think Yeah Anyways Lonesome Shack The album that I was checking out again

This week is one that I absolutely love from them. I've listened to a few of their albums. The reason I like this one, it's called City Man, came out in 2012. It's actually a live recording from this venue called,

it's called the Cafe Racer. It's up here in Seattle. And what I like about it is, I mean, you kind of just get transported to that night, you know, to the set. You can hear, audience members, even like throughout each song, sometimes you'll hear someone like, go like, yeah,

tearing like apart in the song, you know, because they're getting into it. They're just like really getting into it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just the whole, the overall feeling of this album is really, really cool. And I'm going to share the third track on the album.

It's called Bad Luck. And I don't believe they actually did a proper studio recording of the song. song. So this live version is the only one that you can hear, really. So yeah, here's a little clip of it. Be my... I love it, man. I fucking love it. It's just your classic, yeah, gritty, you know, stripped down blues song. Yeah, I love it, dude.

Yeah, it's just... I mean, I like the way they set up this song, too. And that's, if you listen to this album all the way through, this is what they do. Like, because it's just the two of them, I don't know, they kind of, I wouldn't say they play off each other. But like the drums are always kind of just more like a driving beat. You know, actually kind of like old gospel music, you know, like the stomping your feet on the ground kind of stuff. But yeah, I mean, that reminds me a lot. of the early black keys stuff,

like rubber factory and right, chula home and all that. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, which was why black keys were so like, like,

like, uh, because, you know, the white stripes have always had had, some flair to them, you know, as far as like,

uh, it's funny because, are you talking about like the way they dressed and, and, and just, yeah, I mean, yeah,

it was a little gimmicky for a bit. I feel like the black keys. That's why they, named themselves the black keys. It's like, we got the white stripes, you know, which could almost be considered like the ivory keys on a piano. Let's call ourselves the black keys because we're going to be a little bit darker. Holy shit, brother. I never even thought of that. You just blew my mind, bro. I don't do it. No, okay. I don't know if the white stripes are called themselves or naming themselves after the piano keys, but I know for a fact that the black keys,

they're talking about the keys on the piano. For sure, but brother. good on you, man, because that's awesome. I want that to be true. Black keys are are darker, way darker than the white stripes as far as their early stuff, their early blues stuff that they were doing was more in line with this. Yep. But anyways, same with Meg White. This drummer keeps it super simple.

He just drives the song along. Doesn't try to do anything fancy. My favorite part about this song is, so, you know, If you notice the way that, right when the drummer comes in at the beginning of the song, he hits a snare and crash at the same time. And the opening line in the song is Must Be My Gun. And then that snare and crash sounds like a gunshot. Okay, cool.

And then, that's cool. Like 30 seconds into the song, the drummer kind of like does a tiny little fill and stops. And then they all kind of, they both stop together. and then he starts back again in the same way that he starts the song, and they start back in with kind of that gunshot sound. It's really, really cool. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, I mean, I was just going to say that, like, you know, for blues,

I feel like the drums have always been really simple in blues. Very simple. You know, you don't even need a drummer. Like, a lot of times there was just a guy and a guitar stomping his feet, you know? Yep. So, yeah. Yeah, man. Good stuff.

Yeah. And yeah, I thought it was funny. If you listen to the song all the way through, like I said, they keep the audience track. You know, they keep the claps in and everything at the interviewer song. And I'm pretty sure it's on this one. Some guy in the audience goes like, I like that one, man. They like claps.

I bet you it was a tiny venue, dude. Yeah, I haven't been up there. But yeah, I think it's up like in the university district, which means nothing to people that don't. live up here. But yeah, I'm definitely going to go check out the venue at some point. I mean, if they play blues, you know, stuff like that, yeah, I'd love to go check it out. So Lonesome Shack right now, they're touring in like the UK and Europe. So I'm just anxiously waiting because they're bound to come back to their hometown. I've been wanting to see them for a while now.

Anyways, so what have you been listening to this week, brother? What you heard? All right. So just like you, I typically kind of to prepare for whatever episode, whatever band we're going to talk about I usually try to like dive into their influences a little bit dive into similar

bands, you know, in the same genre. So I did kind of a I went back to the early Alman Brothers stuff because I read the pitchfork review for youth and young manhood and, uh,

As you can imagine, Q, I disagree with the pitchfork guy. I actually went and read that too. Yeah. He gave him a pretty high rating. Like, I think it was seven out of ten. No, dude. For the single, for Holy Roller never came the single, it was seven out of ten. Okay.

That's what I read. For you on manhood, it was 4.2. So I don't think we've brought up our hatred for pitchfork yet on this podcast, dude. I thought we brought that up. Let's do it real quick. Okay. So I think Pitchfork is kind of infamous for their hypercriticalness, I guess. They're pretentious, man.

I feel like every writer on Pitchfork is pretentious, like pinkies up, highbrow. I don't even know if it's that. I think it's just like that is what they're, I think that that is a, that's intended to, to, to, to, to be controversial with, with, with their. with what they say. I think that's how they get, like, that's how they gain the attention.

Yeah, I think that's how they, like I got my fucking pitchfork. Let's fucking roast this, this band. Yeah, let's, let's get real here, dude. We talk about Pitchfork

because of the, because of their reviews, right? So, I mean, they definitely gain a lot of attention by, by being, because when you look at, when you look at youth young manhood's,

uh, like scores with other publications, uh, you know, NME gave them nine of 10. Rolling Stone, you know, four out of five. NME fucking creamed their pants when that this album came out, dude. So that's what I'm saying. So pitchfork said and, you know, you can't, this is smart. Pitchfork said, hey man, let's just, you know, bash the shit out of all

albums that we review for the most part because that's what's going to get us attention. Because a lot of times it's good to read, go go and go read a negative review instead of reading nothing but positive review. So it's good to hear the other perspective. But usually when you read a pitchfork review and you're like what the are you talking about you know right I guess you see a different perspective on it but right I mean it's not to say that every single

pitchfork review of course is a negative one but it seems like every band that I love pitchfork shits on right and that that's no coincidence man it's just not so anyway

I'm sorry to yeah that was kind of a tangent that's fine let's go back yeah so what have you been listening to? No, but the reason I brought a pitch for it is because he's the guy I only make sure yeah, so the guy that reviewed

Youth and Younger Manhood talked about the Alman brothers when talking about because basically what his thing about Kings of Leon. Like his critique. Yeah, of Kings of Leon was oh well they'll you know they're referred to as a Southern rock band

but and then he went on and said like, you know, they don't have the craftsmanship and technical proficiency of the Almond brothers and they don't have the storytelling of Leonard Skinnerd or the... Oh my God. Yeah. So it's like, okay, that's fine, but that's not what Kings of Leon were trying to do with this album. They're not about the proficiency.

Of course they're not. Okay, so I'm like, let's dive into Almond Brothers, which I did. because I wanted to be like, all right, smarty pants, you know? No, I know that, I know that Almond Brothers, their guitar work is really, really great. Like, that's what they're known for. But I wanted to go back to their early stuff, you know, just to kind of, to kind of hear like, because, you know, I don't know if I'd consider them a Southern rock band. I feel like their early stuff was more blues-based.

I can't even think of an Almond Brothers song off the top of my band. Rambling Man. Okay. Boy, I was born a rambling man. Oh, yeah, man. Dude, that's Southern Rock. That is for sure. But I'm saying their earlier stuff is more blues-based.

Okay. Anyway. So you've got a... Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just wanted to... This is such a cool song, man. I love this track. It's called Revival.

It's off their second album. So is this the first time... Like, did you just discover this song? No, I had heard this a while back. But I'd never really... done a true deep dive into Allen brothers. So I sort of kind of skipped through some of the early stuff and listened to quite a bit of it.

Man, if you're a guitar player, Allen Brothers is like, they're awesome. You know what I mean? Like they're almost like a, they're almost like a guitar jam band almost. Like one of their, you know,

really well-known hits is, damn it, what's it called, man? I'm drawn a blank. You're going to cut it up. You're going to carry it out. Yeah. Hang on, dude.

I'll help you out. First one to find the answer is the king of Google. But you don't even know what I'm talking about. Okay, it's called Blue Sky. So, yeah, so one of their songs, Blue Sky, it's like five minutes long. The bridge, which is the, you know, the middle of the song. It's three minutes. It's a three-minute guitar solo.

What? Not like a three minutes of nothing but guitar. So that's what I'm talking about. Like, they are a guitar band. And so when Mr. Pitchfork over here is saying, well, Kings of Leon don't have, they don't have the technical proficiency of an Alman Brothers. It's like, well, that's not because they're not doing Alman Brothers. They're doing Kings of Lian.

All you got to say to that is, that's because they're not the Allman Brothers, dear. Exactly. So anyway. Who gave you this fucking Mike, man? Like, how did you get this soapbox? You know what I'm saying? Because he writes for pitchfork and he's got to be controversial. That's all it is.

All right. So, all right. So like I said, this is revival. It's the lead single off of their second album. Idle Wild South. That's what it's called.

That's hard to say it. Idle Wild South came on 19. Wild South. Yeah. Idol Wild South came out in 1970. So let's listen to it. This is literally just the intro. It's a good, it's a good length.

but you got to get to the when he starts singing to kind of hear the full impact of this how cool this intro is and then I'll talk about it just briefly and then we'll dive into Kings and Leon so let's hear it so yeah that was lovely yeah fantastic right so yeah um guitar driven dude that's what they're all about and uh super technical proficiency like the Pittsford guy was saying

but uh that's what they that's what they did man that's what they were all about So I'm going to say something that might be bold here. All right. So this is the first time I've heard that song. Obviously, I don't know that much about Allman Brothers. That's like, so as far as professional, like technical proficiency or whatever, they remind me of yes. Yeah. Well, you know, and this is, I've always felt that.

60s and 70s rock had a complexity to it that died in the 80s. As far as like... Dude, it died hard. It died hard in the 80s. But like, you know, you listen to the Ramones and that was the whole point of punk in the 80s was let's just dumb this down, learn, you know, do some power chords and just be really loud, you know, which is fine. Right.

That's great. Yeah. So you had, you had the emergency. of punk and at the same time the emergence of like the synthesizer. Right, because musicians were handed these other instruments and these other tools. Yeah, so it died hard, man. So like, that's what I love

about the early 60s, 70s rock music like this. I feel like people just don't rock music has stopped being about the guitar in the 80s. Rock music, mainstream rock music. You know what I mean? If you want to hear

good guitar, you go down the path of heavy metal, because metal is always about the guitar. It's always about guitars. You know what I mean? Right. If you want to hear guitar solos, metal has always had guitar solos, man, for the most part.

So anyway, so what's great about Kings of Leon to start to segue into Kings of Leon is that they are a rock band in like a very pure, in like a pure, pure form of rock. Hang on, dude. Let's say, let's say, I think we need to clarify. Early Kings of Leon.

Yes. We're a true rock band. They're no longer that, man, unfortunately. Well, yeah. It's sad, but it's true. And we'll get into that. But we're talking about their very first album today because that's the band that we were introduced to.

Yes. When they were just starting out and they were kind of discovering rock music and making great music. at the same time. Like they're, they're, they're the band that,

that weren't raised on rock and roll, found it and were learning how to play while they were, while they were discovering these bands. You know what I mean? And that's, I think that's why they're, that's a good point, dude. Yeah.

That's a good point because, um, so, yeah, so let's, let's jump into their history a little bit here. Okay. And kind of build from there.

So, So let's just start off by saying, for one, this is a true family band. It's three brothers and a cousin. Yep. The follow wills. Follow will. Is that how you can say? Fowl will.

Fowl will. Yeah. So, yeah. Their origin story is sort of a rock and roll myth. like it's like a mythical. It sounds made up. It really does sound made up. So the short version is their father was a traveling preacher.

And so... And so they were sons of a preacher man. Sons of a preacher man. A holy roller. Yep. Absolutely. Dude, he was a Pentecostal preacher. Yeah.

And so Caleb, Nathan, Jared, the brothers, spent most of their childhood in the backseat of a 1988 purple Oldsmobile, traveling the south with their father. Yvonne Fala Will. Yeah, so they were homeschooled. They were born in Tennessee, right? They were either born in Tennessee or Oklahoma. Yeah, all I know is that for sure they spent most of their time traveling between Oklahoma

City and Memphis, Tennessee. Yeah. And they were not, you know, rock and roll was, uh, was not allowed. That was considered secular music, you know. Exactly. They were not. They did not grow up on that shit. Yeah, right. They, they grew up on, on gospel music, which, you know, plays a part in, in their, in their songwriting and their music and how they, you know, it's part, it is part of, like, it's part of it, you know what I mean?

It is. Well, it is for sure on their early stuff, the stuff that we're covering today, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. one of the songs that we're going to play. Yeah, it's got that feel. It's got that gospel feel to it.

Yeah. Yeah. So that's the idea. And then they were, I think their parents divorced. Yeah. So in 1997, their parents split. And on top of that, their father, Leon. So hang on, dude, we didn't even mention.

Their father's name is Leon, kings of Leon. Yeah, his middle name is Leon. Yeah. Ivan Leon follow. Yeah. Gotcha. Yeah. So he, not only does he, their, you know, their parents split in 1997 and he leaves, he resigns from the church in 97.

Obviously, that's a huge shakeup for the family. Yeah. And then it's in that same year, Nathan and Caleb, which are the older brothers of the three, move to Nashville, Tennessee. So they just bounce. They're just like, all right, well, we're going to go do our own thing now. In 97, they had to be in their teens. I don't know for sure how old they were. But, yeah, they moved to Nashville in hopes of getting into the music business.

It was just them to at first. Because then they have a little, a little, they would sing at churches and stuff. They were called the Follow Will Brothers, right? Oh, yeah. And they tried to come out. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And they sing gospel songs. Yeah, they sing gospel songs with their mother. So Nathan, which is the oldest of the brothers, he's the drummer.

Nathan played drums to accompany his father on the bass and his mother on piano. And they would play 15-minute sets. And so, yeah, man, they were in, like their father would preach. And then they would also. So the family would provide the music, you know, the worship gospel songs for the services. Yeah, that's funny, man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And again, it's like, you can't write this stuff, man.

That's so perfect, like the story. Seriously. How they started and formed. And so now I'm reading here at Q that they named their band after their grandfather, who was also named Leon. Oh, really? Okay. So anyway. Either way, it's named after a male figure in their lives.

So when did they start hearing rock music? Well, so 1997, oldest brothers, Nathan and Caleb, they move out to Nashville. And they meet this guy named Angelo Petraglia. And this guy turns them. on to bands like the Rolling Stones. He gets them into Johnny Cash. And he actually stuck around and he's, I mean, I guess you'd call him a friend of theirs. He also ended up producing their first EP and also producing youth and young men.

So they're like the true secular music they didn't really get into until they moved into Nashville. because before that they were into like the more clean artists like Jimmy Reed, Chuck Berry, stuff like that. They grew up on that stuff. So yeah, I've got a cool quote here from one of the articles I read that's relevant here. So I read a couple of articles in Guitar World magazine. So Guitar World would interview both Caleb and Matthew. because they're the guitar players of the group. And Guitar World did an interview in 2009

right before they kind of exploded, right? Or while they were in the process of exploding. And then they did another article interview on them two years later called Kings of Rock, Kings of Leon. So basically, the two times that they were interviewed, they were already like on the rise, you know what I mean? So they were way, yeah. By the time 2011 came out, they were huge.

They were giant. Huge. So anyway, there's a quote from Caleb. He's talking about their early influence influences. He says, I can remember watching TRL, Total Request Live on MTV when I was 16 years old and it was limp biscuit, Britney Spears, corn. in sync M&M. Dude, that was the same time that you and I were watching TRL, man.

I know. We were a little bit younger than that, but yeah, I remember that exact era of Total Request Live. Yeah. So anyway, he says, I was like, man, I don't get it. Because I was still listening to the oldies. I was still catching up, which is, I like that he phrases it that way, that he was still catching up. Yeah, that's cool.

And he says, I was listening to early rock and roll, do-wop, big band music. Yeah, and that's what I mean by clean, you know what I mean? Like they, it's not like they were completely shut off from rock and roll. Yeah, I just love that he says that he was, he wasn't ready for this new stuff because he was still catching up through rock. You know what I mean? You can't really get to corn, which, you know, corn has its merits. But you can't really get to corn without going backwards. If you haven't heard all the stuff that precedes corn, you hear corn, you're like, what the, am I listening to here?

Seriously, dude. You know what I mean? Especially in the context of like metal and hard rock. Yeah, that would sound alien to someone like that. Absolutely. So anyway. So they were listening to stuff like the Stones, thin Lizzie, probably a little bit later. And you're probably right.

Yeah, probably around the time that they were in Nashville. And then in the year 2000 is when their youngest brother, Jared moved up there, moved to Tennessee, along with their cousin Matthew. So that's when they all started fucking around on their instruments and practicing and playing together. 2000, around that time.

And then I'll just say real quick, by 2002, they had interest from nine different record labels. And then they ultimately signed with RCA. So before we play a clip from youth and young menhood, I think we should play a clip from their mega hit just kind of as a contrast to kind of how they sound now. And it'll help kind of give context to like, here's the band that we fell in love with.

And here's the band that... Well, yeah, it's funny because I'm about to play this clip. Yeah. And it's going to be like, oh, yeah, that song. I guarantee you you're going to know this song. Right. If you don't know who inclusive Leon is, you know you've heard this song for sure. Yeah, you'll know this song.

So we're talking about the song, Use Somebody, which was on, I believe it was on because of the times, which came out in 2007. Yes. Yeah. So, yep, here's that song that you've heard on the radio a fucking bagillion times. That's all I'm going to play, dude. That's all you need to hear. Man. That's all you need to hear.

Okay, so, dude, it's perfect to play that because Let's do Joe's head as the first clip. No, I'm going to... Well, dude, and here's... We can talk about this if you want, but here's why that was their first mega hit, dude. It's got the millennial hoop as they've, as it's been called.

Every song has done this in the past five years, five to 10 years. It's the, uh, yes, man. That has become a staple for, it's almost a check that you have to, that you have to,

you got a box you got to check if you want your, you're single to get on the radio. Well, that makes me think that that was probably added on later. Like, I bet they're fucking, but no, okay.

Or the record label is like, okay, can you add in that millennial whoop guys? Cute. Now, now here's where things get interesting. Okay. Here we go.

All right. I think it's always easy to be like, well, it's that damn record label that took the band that I love. You're right. Absolutely. And made them sound like what I don't like. Right. That's the story that I tell when I'm talking about Kings of Land. But that's probably the story for some bands.

But here's a quote from Matthew. Actually, I'm going to read you two quotes back to back, one from Caleb and one from Matthew. So this is from a 2009 interview with Guitar World. So they're just asked about their evolving sound, right? And Caleb goes, people want you to stay as you are. They want your fourth record to be like your first. They get nervous when you change your haircut or tamper with your sound.

But we had to evolve. We don't want to be this little cult band. Our hunger is bigger than that. Our destiny is larger than that. we want the world I don't think that's a bad dream to chase now here's what Matthew I'd say

here's response to that question our first few records did just fine and they got us a lot of attention but the only way that this could be happening and then he like motions his hand around at the nice hotel that they're staying in or whatever he says

was by making songs that connected with the masses if you want to call that being a sellout well shit that's your right but i know in my heart we're not so there you go kew he's they are talking to us you and i the the the the fans that got on early and weren't happy with with what we heard on the fourth album you know and beyond well let me ask you this brother could you see me shaking my head now they're almost the entire time shaking your head as in disappointment yes And let me tell you, look, dude, earlier today, I listened to their album from last year.

Walls? Or mechanical bull? No, Walls. Okay. Mechanical Bull came out in 2013. Walls just came out last year. I thought Walls came out this year. No, man.

Okay. It came out in 2016. I'll tell you this right now. I've never been more disappointed in an album. I'm not just saying that, dude. not one memorable song on the record. It was depressing. Okay, so in that case,

you would probably agree with Pitchfork when they gave walls of 4.5. You probably agree with that. Dude, I would give it less than that, man. Yeah, okay. It is straight up, it's just a fucking moneymaker now for them. That's fine, dude. They're grown up.

They've grown up now. They've got families. When you listen to the quote, the quote that I just said, I get that. But I know, but what I'm saying is like that was, that was at the origin of them looking to the future and being like, we're going to sell out arenas, you know. And now this is the product of that. When did that? When were they quoted on that? 2009.

Okay. So now this is, this is, you know, hey, they got what they wanted, but now they're making mediocre records. That's, yeah. You know what? Yeah. that's the But that's what they wanted, man. They got what they wanted.

That's the end game for for most bands, right? I mean, look at, look at cold play. Right. All right. So,

but hey, let's just step back a little bit here because this, this episode is supposed to be about why we love youth and young manhood. So, yeah,

so let's just, let me just say that the reason we kind of went on a tangent here is because we love this album so much and we love Kings of Leon, man. Like, it's like watching someone that you really care about. Right.

I mean, change. You know, change for, in my opinion, change for the worst. But that's just because, you know, I, it's that, dude, it's that selfish. Right. If you're a fan of a band, you don't want them to change. Exactly like what they were saying. You don't want them to change, but, but if, I'm fine with a band changing, but, you know, look at, look at a band like,

which we're going to cover heavily. Oh, Spoon. You can do no wrong. When you look at Spoon, I love you, Bertana. They have evolved constantly from a series of snakes all the way to the album that just came out. But it's been Spooned the whole time. You know what I mean? Right. You listen to you somebody.

Like listen to music from Kings of Leon around that time. and then listen to youth and young manhood. It totally is two different bands entirely. Yeah, but but when you when you hear that that's, that was what they had planned to do the whole time. That to me, that's when it becomes disappointing because they're pretty much admitting,

yeah, we're changing the way that we sound for the, because we want to sell out arenas and become the biggest rock band on the play. Yeah, they're admitting to selling out. the reason we're doing it. We're not doing it because, you know, that's the kind of music we want to write. We're doing it because we've got our eyes on. They want to take over the world.

That's, yeah, all right. Yeah, yeah, dude. And they did. Mission accomplished for a little bit. But, but, you know, so anyway, let's, so now that we've played you somebody, which most people have heard, I would, I would say. Let's play the first clip from Youth Younger Manhood. so we can hear the huge contrast

and then we can just from here on out and just talk about everything that we love about early Kings of Leon. Yes. I'm hoping that there's some people that listen to this episode who know Kings of Leon but have literally never heard any of these songs. I don't know.

I have no idea that's a thing. You know, it's funny because I was talking, I've got some coworkers that I kind of bounce ideas off of as far as this podcast. you know, I was telling somebody, yeah, we're going to do Kings of Leon. And they go, oh, yeah, I know Kings of Leon. And I said, oh, yeah, do you know these guys? And I showed them a picture of what they look like way back in the day.

And he said, there's no way that's the same dudes. And I said, it's absolutely. Wow. So, yeah, most people know exactly who Kings of Leon is, but they don't know, they don't know prior to the radio hits. Prior to because of the times. That's it, man. Exactly. Yeah.

All right. So let's play. So the first track that we're going to play is called Joe's Head. It's track four on the album. We got a couple clips to share. So here is the first one. It's just the beginning of the song. Going from watching them perform for the strokes to almost immediately buying this record and listening to it, the reason I kept going back to Kings of Leon and the reason I fell in love with them is it's the same.

thing that I look for when I'm listening to blues, it's that raw. Yeah, it's genuine. Yeah, there's no, there's no, this, yeah, and this is why when you hear youth and young manhood compared to their later stuff, you're hearing, like I said, what's interesting about this record is you're hearing dudes who, who are literally like, like, here's how he came up with, you know, Molly's Chambers. Yeah, one of the singles off this. simple, simple guitar riff. He literally wrote that riff right after his buddy who was kind of teaching him,

showing him how to play guitar, showed him what a power cord was. He went, he went back and was playing around with Jared, the guy that plays bass, his brother. And he just, he would do the riff, the Molly's Chambers riff. And he'd be like, how does that sound? How does that sound? All right, cool. Let's make that a song. Yeah, it's funny too, because I've, I've, I've heard some interviews back around that time where, I mean, Jared admits to like, you know, I mean, we were just copying bands for a while. Yeah. And that's because they are literally like three years in or so of hearing all this music. You know, they were already teenagers, there were early 20s when they were introduced to secular rock and roll.

So that's fresh to them. Right. And the pitch, the pitchfork guy knocks them for that, you know. but that's what I love about it. It's like this is this is rock and roll from from from from guys that that are like fresh in it. You know what I mean? It's the foul wills falling in love with rock and roll and almost immediately making a rock album because of that. Yeah. And saying we got to start writing music like this.

Yeah. And then they did. And then like you and like what you're trying to say like there's I can't understand half the words that that. is singing on this record. No, yeah. And especially the other few songs that we're going to play and the second clip from Joe's head, yeah, dude, he gets, he just starts screaming. But that's because, but that's the thing.

He doesn't need an entire arena to sing along for these songs. Right. So, and that's what I like about it, man. Yeah, dude. I can't tell what the hell he's saying, but that's, who cares, man? Yeah. It's, it's just pure. It's just so pure.

That's what I love about it. It's pure, and you know what? You know, even the way that they looked back then, the way they dressed, the beards. It was all thrift store buys to it. It was authentic. They didn't give a shit. Right. It was authentic.

Yeah, they didn't care. So let's play the second clip. So yeah, so the second clip of Joe's head kind of hints at what I love about the way Caleb used to sing. I'm just going to play the clip and then we'll talk about it, dude. I just love it. That's Kings of Leon, dude. Yeah, that's. Yeah.

And let's talk about how great the guitar and bass player and the drums. You know. And Jared, I think, was the last to pick up the bass. Yes. Yeah, he was like, how do I get into this band? I want to be with my brothers and my cousin. I don't know how to play anything. I guess I'll learn how to play bass because it's the only instrument left.

And that baseline is killer, man. And it drives the whole song, too. Absolutely. Right from the beginning, dude. The baseline is what starts the song. Yeah, yeah. But, you know, this second clip had a couple of really great guitar parts, the solo, and then that little kind of single string riff version of the riff, the main riff, I guess. But it's just great, man.

What a great song. And yeah, like you said, he starts screaming, essentially. And, you know, that always, and here's another thing. Kings of Leon, probably still to this day. are a band that you've got to see live to see them, especially when we saw them in their early days. That screaming is like amplified, you know, and the energy that they brought to their live performances

is what kept us going back. It's what rock and roll is all about, dude. Exactly. So again, it's like this was, they were rock in like the, the purest version of it. Really? The most pure version of rock.

And so I think, I don't know, this is as good a time as any to, so I want to kind of do a little brief history on, so their father, their father was a Pentecostal preacher. And specifically Pentecostalism, aka the Holy Rollers, you know, this is the church service you go to where you're going to see people speaking in tongue, writhing around, rolling around on the floor and stuff, like getting into the spirit. Yeah. That's that's that's that's that's your Pentecostal church. That has a pretty strong influence on the early origins of rock and roll.

I'm intrigued. Let's hear it. I mean just to name to do just to name three huge I mean rock and roll legends that grew up and evangelical churches. Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis. These people grew up on gospel music, and they grew up in churches just like the Falwell brothers. And it's that, the gospel music of these churches,

if you listen to old gospel tunes, if you listen to singer-songwriters that were either recording old gospel songs are writing their own, you can definitely hear the influence, man. Like, uh, man, especially Jerry Lee Lewis,

dude. Yeah, and Little Richard, the way he used to perform back in the day. Yeah. Like, yeah, you can,

you can hear some of that kind of spill into it, you know? Yeah, and so without getting crazy deep into this and like, because I, you know,

there's some pretty great articles that we'll put, you know, we'll link to in the, in the show notes, uh, about this. But I'm going to jump specifically to this one.

gospel singer. Her name is Sister Rosetta Tharp. And she was apparently super popular in the 1940s. She was a gospel R&B crossover singer. She is actually both Little Richard and Johnny Cash's all-time favorite singer. She has been credited as being the main link between the sacred and the secular. I liked that line alive. Interesting.

From this article that I read, specifically about Pentecostalism and rock and roll. Someone was quoted as calling her a swinkapated manipulator of loud blues tones, a hymn swinging evangelist. So she would sing a bunch of gospel standards, and she also wrote a bunch of gospel songs herself in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. but she was wielding this guitar and she would play these bluesy distorted guitar numbers along with these gospel songs and it's really fucking awesome man i've got a little clip here i'm going to play from this uh tv show in the 60s early 60s called tv gospel time and it was like a music variety show that featured a lot of the really big gospel music from that time.

And Sister Rosetta Tharp performed on there, and she played this gospel song that she wrote herself called Up Above My Head. I'm going to play a little bit of it. And you really can see the huge influence that she must have had and that this type of music this gospel music had on early rock and roll.

You're talking Presley, we're talking Richard. I think Presley actually covered this song as well at one point. Anyways, yeah, so here is just a little clip of that. It's fucking great. I mean, she's just shredding it on that guitar, man. That's great. Yeah, dude.

I like her. She's like, let's do that again. I love it, dude. Yeah, that's, again, man, you know, I don't know if I mentioned this earlier, but obviously, rock and roll starts with blues, right? Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, that's great, man. And, you know, kind of ties back to your pick from earlier. Yeah. So, yeah, good stuff. So, yeah, let's skip into the next Kings of Leon track here. So yeah, so let's just say real quick, I mean, think about it. This is, you know, so these brothers and cousin, they may not have grown up on the quote-unquote secular tunes. they're not that much older than you and I

you know so if if they didn't grow up in the type of household that they did they would have been introduced to bands like the wrong stones you know the Beatles uh fucking Zeppelin all that they would have been introduced to that at an early age instead they were listening to stuff like this

sister Rosetta Thar you know Chuck Barry but in my in my opinion sister Rosetta Tharp could be in some ways a better start to if you're going to learn about rock and roll it's probably better to start with her than to start with the stones is like a framework yeah

so the second track that we're going to share it's called Tranny track five on youth and young manhood yeah we're going to play a clip from the from the record and then we're going to play a clip from the record

and then we're going to play a live track, a live clip, correct? Yeah, so I've got, yeah, the first clip we're going to share is the beginning of the song that, as you hear it on the record. And the second clip is from Bonaroo, 2004. So, you know, a year, maybe a little less than a year after this album came out, they played Bonarro. they used to always close with this song so yeah the second clip's going to be a little bit later on in the in the song but but a live version of it so before yeah before we talk about it let's just play it

so yeah this is one of those songs that I just have no idea what he's saying but yeah I don't think any website that provides lyrics knows what the fuck he's saying either yeah and and you know is he talking about a transva or is he talking about a transistor radio that that debate has been had um he talks about um you know cranking up like a tranny on tin is what he says and some people think that that's as in the volume knob cranked up to 10 transistor radio which makes sense yeah and because he says a white noise sound

like a tranny on 10 right but then he but then you've got your first line talking about cheap trick hookers hanging out at the bar and the Greyhound station. Either way, it doesn't matter. No, it doesn't matter. It really, it really doesn't matter. The reason that this is my favorite song of their, one of my favorite songs of theirs is the simplicity of it, with it being so simple,

like, you want to talk about this, the most simple drumbeat imaginable? Basically, you've just got a tambourine that he's hitting, or his hi-hat, just basically, to keep the beat. That's pretty much it throughout the whole, at least throughout the beginning of the song in the clip that we showed you. Yeah.

So you've got the most dumbed down drumbeat you could imagine. Same with the guitar lines. And then the song builds up, but it still says really, really simple. But it just shows how you can have a really simple, rock song that is really powerful. And yeah,

there's definitely a, like a build and a climax for this song. You know what I mean? It's the same chorus. Yeah. But each time it's sung with more

emotion. Yeah. So, yeah. So again, this is a, this is just a clip from their set that they played at Bonarue in 2004. And I know for a fact, I looked it up, this was their closer, as in this was their encore closer for that set.

So, yeah, so here's a little bit farther into the song. This is them playing live at Bonaroo in 2004. I get them goosebumps, please, dude. Every time. Well, actually watching the clip, I think helps to really understand and kind of feel the power of their live performance. Yeah. Hearing it is one thing. But seeing, watching that clip.

Right. What it was like to see them back in 2003, 2004. Because we, so we saw Kings of Leon every chance that we could after seeing them open for the strokes every time they came to the Dallas, you know, the D.S. EFW area, we saw them. And I remember they toured, you know, they opened for you two for like a handful of, of sets on this tour that we, like the last time that we saw them at a small venue. And I remember we were all thinking to ourselves like this, well, this is it. And like they're huge.

They're going to be huge now. Like this is the last time we're going to get to see them in a setting like this. We were right, dude. Matthew tells the story of how he how he saw the edge of you two. He saw his effects set up

which as everybody knows the edge is his effect pedal board I mean it's more than that like it's nothing but effects for him. That's what makes edge

edge. And then he saw Benjamin Curtis of secret machines and saw his pedal boards and was like, oh man, what's this all about? So like he wasn't even, like, it was new to him. So again, it's like, these guys really did like learn and, and found out about rock as they went along. And then they started throwing this thing into the mix. And now their songs have, you know, a ton of effects on. Basically, you know, they picked up an, a boss, ME50, which is a multi-effects processor and just started playing around with it. And like, okay, well, now their songs have all these effects on, which is fine.

Yeah, well, I actually, I had meant to, I wanted to mention this earlier, but by the time they were, so they got signed to RCA in 2002, they hadn't, they had not played any gigs and they were already signed to RCA, dude. Think about that. Yeah. Other than house shows where like they played for friends and like acquaintances, they hadn't played a proper gig and they were signed to RCA. So yeah, you're absolutely right, dude.

They're being introduced to rock and roll and learning the ways of rock as they're doing it. Yeah, after already being. Yeah, that's one hell of a way to learn about what an effects pedal is by seeing the edge's boards backstage. Yeah. How many guitar players have that story to tell? Huh. Oh. By looking at, you know, arguably like the king of effect battles, it's like, geez, all right, well.

So anyway. So, yeah, you listen to that clip from 2004 at Bonnaroo. I actually read a interview slash review of an album, I'm sorry, of a concert that this, so this journalist had went and saw them play in Amsterdam in 2004, and then met up with him and interviewed them after the show. And he describes the way that Caleb would sing back then and the way they performed. He describes it perfectly. He says, Caleb sings like there's a loaded gun to his head.

And they smash away at these songs like it's their last gig ever. Yeah, man, absolutely. There's no other, that's the perfect way to describe. Kings of Leon, their presence that they had. When you saw them live, it was just like, just so genuine and raw. And yeah, it's really, it's like, it's like you're playing the last show that you're ever going to play. You know, seeing your fucking heart out. Yeah, that's perfect, man.

That's perfect. And I think, so the last song that we're going to play for y'all is, is track seven called Spiral Staircase. And, I mean, we're just, like I said earlier, we're just going down the line as far as the track list. But it's fucking great that this is the last song that we're going to share. Because Spiral Staircase shows everything, like early days, Kings of Leon,

with the influence that they had growing up, with the way that he would sing, their song structure, everything, Spiral staircase kind of shows all of it, I think. Yeah, and the guitar riff, especially toward the end, it's very, very classic blues rock guitar riff. Yeah, I love this song so much. Perfect way to tie it all up.

Yeah. So let's hear it. The voice, man. I can understand every other word, if that. But yeah, his voice is just so great, man. Again, like, you know, just that gritty blues, man. you know. Dude, I mean, you think back to the Pentecostal church. Like, it's like he's being, it's like he's being moved by the spirit, you know, he might as well be speaking in tongues.

Spirit of rock, man. He's being moved by the spirit of rock. Holy Roland, man. Straight up. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. He probably learned, you know, absorbed it by. Absolutely. By osmosis, man. Just like being in the church, especially Pentecostal, like he said, you know, Dude, the church that you and I grew up in, I want to talk about like fucking like tame, prude, I guess, conservative. Yeah, we wouldn't have picked up

that kind of energy, you know, at the services we went to. So, yeah, you know, it all makes sense when you know the backstory. So, yeah, let's hear that second clip because I love the guitar work that kind of closes out the song. Yeah, so the second clip

it's probably the bridge because we like to play clips of the bridge um yeah you get to hear a little something different and yeah they they really do this this classic gospel

song stomp your feet clap your hands kind of thing that's kind of how they they finish this song off it's fucking great yeah here it is it's a Leon song man really I think it just encapsulates everything

that they stood before when they burst onto the scene. And I think Spiral Staircase is probably one of the main reasons why so many people got excited about Kings and Leon back then. I don't know. I may be wrong, but God, I love that song, dude. Everything about it. I was going to say that's, I think RCA just had to hear that.

And then it's no wonder they signed him without, you know, them having never toured before. Now, of course, they were signed on with what, with, with Holy Roller. Novocaine, right? That was their That was their little EP that they released in the same year. What was on that EP? So Holy Roller Novocaine was five songs. It had Molly's Chambers,

wasted time, California waiting, wicker chair, which is we're actually going to, we're going to share that song with you all for our bonus episode for this week. Track five was Holy Roller Novercane.

So Spirrulls, Circus was not on this EP. So they probably heard Molly's chambers and were like, let's just, let's bring them on here. Because I think, I think it, they just had it everything, you know. They had to look. A lot of people, what's interesting, I heard and read that they were called the Southern Strokes, which I thought was interesting. And maybe it's because their songs were short and simple like the strokes were.

but that's probably where the comparisons would end for me. Yeah, I could see that being the reason because there's no, yeah, where are they getting strokes out of this? It's probably just the, you know, the retro vibe. Like the second hand store like clothing and stuff. Yeah. Oh, they definitely had the strokes look, that's for sure. Right.

And yeah, when we saw them open for the strokes, I think all four of them were rocking handlebar mustache. and long hair. And beards and stuff, yeah. So they're like the strokes with with beards as far as appearance looks. Right. The songs were way different though, but I can see why. And strokes were on RCA too, so.

Right. And yeah. And the strokes decided to bring them along for their room on fire tour. So, yeah, it makes sense that they would be. Well, yeah, that's probably because they were on the same label. Yeah. So as far as taking the world by storm, I'd say they've definitely done it. They actually.

Yeah, mission accomplished. Yeah. Mission accomplished. So their album only by the night that came out in 2009, their first single on that album, you've probably heard it, Sex on Fire. They picked up a Grammy with that one, dude. Yeah.

Hey, that's a great, it's a catchy song. It's a good song. It's a great song. Yeah, it's a good song. Also, AHA Shake Heartbreak, which was studio album number two, came out just one year after Youth and Young Manhood. That's a fucking great record, man.

There's a great one. There's some great songs on AHA Shake Heartbreak. Taper Jean Girl. Pistol of Fire, four kicks. Uh, milk. Yeah, man. There's some great songs on that. So that's our nostalgic look at Kings of Leon's debut album, Youth and Young

Manhood. And again, you can go to our website, no filler podcast.com. Check out the show notes. We'll have links to all of the articles. and interviews, videos, pictures, stuff like that, anything that we referenced on this episode, we'll link it for you on the website and the show notes. And with every episode, as you know by now, I hope,

we like to close out each episode with the song from an artist that either one or more or all, of the band members had it were influenced by and so for them they listened to a lot of R&B uh quote unquote black gospel old soul music when they were growing up uh they'll listen to a lot of Chuck Barry and um another artist called Jimmy Reed which I don't even I hadn't even heard of this guy but he was just a standard go-to blues guitar slash harmonica player from the 50s and 60s. And they listened to a lot of him growing up. And so I went back and I listened to a bunch of his singles.

And, you know, there's a bunch of compilation albums on Jimmy Reed. Just your standard blues songs, like I said, but there's one song that I found that That's pretty great. It's got some awesome harmonica numbers on it, dude. That's really cool. Let's hear it. Yeah, so this is one of his singles. It's called I'm Going Upside Yo Head.

All right. So this has been a very blues-centric episode, as it should be if we're going to talk about, a band that we feel was kind of rock in its pure form. And so we're going to close out with a band. another great blues track. So that's it. Let's close it out.

That'll do it for us this week. This is No Filler Podcast. And check back made week for our sidetrack episode. And that's it. My name is Travis. And I'm quitting. You better leave what I say I'm treating up, baby

Honey, I'm going outside your head You're so smart, baby Men's all call you're fine, I'm not known, baby, you're mine, baby To a suit, baby, cause $99,99, now you want to mistreating me, baby, and take on all the time You better hear me, baby.