walking upstream…
Kings of Leon
photo: raph_ph · cc by 2.0 ↗Kings of Leon
sourcesWikipedia2 · Rolling Stone review · Billboard
Three preacher's-son brothers and a cousin from small-town Tennessee and Oklahoma, Kings of Leon spent their childhood on Pentecostal revival circuits before a songwriting mentor cracked open a decade of classic rock they'd never been allowed to hear. That collision produced a scuzzy, drawling garage rock that made 2003's Youth & Young Manhood a critical sensation almost overnight, and by Only by the Night the scrappy riffs had opened into vast, reverb-drenched arena rock — 'Sex on Fire' and 'Use Somebody' turned a cult band into Grammy-winning stadium fixtures without quite sanding off the Southern drawl.
the sound in question
2008
Sex on FireKings of Leon
walk the tributaries ↓
Thin Lizzy1970s · Hard rock / Blues rock / Heavy metal
Thin Lizzy was one of three bands Petraglia introduced to the Followills, and the connection runs deeper than mood: the title of the band's very first single, 'Molly's Chambers,' is lifted straight from a line in Thin Lizzy's version of 'Whiskey in the Jar' — 'being drunk and weary, I went to Molly's chamber.' The band has kept nodding to Thin Lizzy since, calling a breakdown on 2013's Mechanical Bull 'our ode to Thin Lizzy.'
listen: upstream & here
1972
Whiskey in the JarThin Lizzy
2003
Molly's ChambersKings of Leon
listen forListen for the exact phrase Kings of Leon borrowed — Thin Lizzy's 'Whiskey in the Jar' sings of going to 'Molly's chamber,' the line Caleb Followill built an entire song and title around on 'Molly's Chambers.'
The Rolling Stones1960s-70s · Rock / Blues rock / Hard rock
Nashville songwriter Angelo Petraglia, who mentored the teenage Followills, introduced them to the Rolling Stones' loose, blues-soaked swagger while they were writing Youth & Young Manhood. Critics immediately picked up on the kinship: Rolling Stone's review of the debut noted how the band's 'retro-chic look and blend of Southern boogie and gritty garage rock' invited comparisons straight back to that lineage.
listen: upstream & here
1968
Jumpin' Jack FlashThe Rolling Stones
2003
Spiral StaircaseKings of Leon
listen forSet the Stones' rolling, distorted riff on 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' against Kings of Leon's 'Spiral Staircase' — both ride a similarly loose, unhurried blues-rock groove that never quite locks into a straight backbeat, all swagger and slur.
The Clash1970s · Punk rock / Post-punk / Reggae
The Clash was part of the same Petraglia-curated listening diet as the Rolling Stones and Thin Lizzy, and reviewers heard its raw punk urgency in the band's earliest recordings — Rolling Stone's review of Youth & Young Manhood described the record's garage-punk moments as songs where the band 'tumbles down a Spiral Staircase and greets the Red Morning Light with bloodshot conviction.'
listen: upstream & here
1977
White RiotThe Clash
2003
Red Morning LightKings of Leon
listen forCompare the terse, sprinting charge of the Clash's 'White Riot' to the clipped chords and breathless tempo of Kings of Leon's 'Red Morning Light' — both trade in short, urgent bursts rather than a slow blues build.