There is not too much that sounds fresh these days. The hipster division of the music industry has seen few new bands emerge recently, relying more on follow-ups from tried-and-true artists who continue to make consistent albums which, however entertaining they may be, hardly break new ground. It's hard to imagine where bands like The Strokes-who have a third release on the horizon-could take their sound next; to develop it at all would seem to require an artistic reinvention of the sort that often ruins careers instead of enhancing them.
Now the four slightly lesser-known lads of Kings of Leon-three brothers and a cousin who play simple, southern rock 'n' roll and made a decent debut with 2003's Youth And Young Manhood-have returned with Aha Shake Heartbreak. Expectably enough, it suffers from a sophomore slump, failing to deliver on many fronts that made Young Manhood sound so effortlessly pristine, and re-treading plenty of the spots that we did not need to hear again.
The real issue here is not the quality of the album-honestly, Heartbreak is a riot to listen to-but that music like this is not terribly memorable, and is getting to be more and more painfully unoriginal. After all, we only need so many bands that could be described as \simple, good time rock 'n roll.""
But let's wipe all of that unpleasant business aside. There are several moments on Heartbreak where Kings of Leon undeniably shine.
""Milk"" achieves a cool balance between somber and bouncy, and stands out as the most interesting and unique song on the album. ""Four Kicks"" hits hard and leaves as fast as it came, proving these guys can really pack a punch, while ""Day Old Blues,"" a pleasant enough ballad, shows another side of Kings of Leon.
Most songs simply rollick along with the Kings' brand of toe-tapping, breezy blues-rock, and it's all over before you know it. Heartbreak's entertaining enough, but after a few listens you're likely to shelve it and forget about it.
