Something Old, Something New 7.07.09: Kings Of Leon vs. Manchester Orchestra

Posted by Adam Battagello on 07.07.2009

Let's all get to drinking and playing some good ol' fashion rock 'n roll.

Who needs a life when you've got good old rock and roll to listen to? Nobody that's who. Apologies for last week's late article, I'm still working out the kinks and it seems that last week the kinks kicked my ass. That's enough of that; let's get this mother rolling.

This Week:

Kings Of Leon- Notion vs. Manchester Orchestra- I've Got Friends





I leant towards picking the Kings as the established name this week, seeing as how their latest album ‘Only by the Night' has been an absolute monster in terms of international sales and has pretty much been bitch slapping world charts for the better part of 2009.

Manchester Orchestra on the other hand are just coming off of their second album, and the first single 'I've Got Friends' is the band's first to crack the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks, peaking at number 10.

Well it looks like we have ourselves a battle of the south as the Kings from Tennessee take on the young up and comers from Georgia.

But how do the singles stand against each other?

Kings Of Leon-



As I just stated, the latest album from the four Followill boys has been absolutely dominant on the world stage since its release late last year. It has yielded multiple successful singles including the obvious Sex on Fire, which, as much as I love the group and all their previous work, was so overplayed it quite frankly made me want to be the first man in history to officially beat himself to death to get away from it.

Moving onto the single in question, ‘Notion' was always one of my personal favorites from the album, and I had a feeling that sooner or later it would see daylight in the form of a single. Its release gave the band the rare honor of having three songs sitting on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks simultaneously and looks set to push their stock even higher in popular music. Looking back at the rugged aggressiveness of the groups first, and in my opinion best album, I find it amazing to see how high they have been able to climb in modern music.

The song itself appears to have more emotional depth than many of the other singles from the album in question. Sex on Fire, while a good old-fashioned rock song, was about as emotionally deep as a puddle. In Notion we find Caleb Followill singing about a yearning to return home, while at the same time lashing out at people who seem to spread negative opinion, imploring them to "don't knock it" over and over. There is so much controlled frustration in this track that you can't help but love it.

The track opens with one of the more memorable guitar riffs on the album and the band doesn't overcomplicate things with the rest of the music, leaving you with, essentially, a simple but enjoyable rock song.

If I had to find a fault here it would be more with the amount of coverage the band has gotten rather then the song itself. Leading up to my seeing them live several months ago, they music scene was absolutely saturated with Kings of Leon news and, while they were nothing short of brilliant in concert, I must admit that the moment had sort of been ruined by my inability to escape the group. The moral of the story? These guys need to go away quietly and spend the next 12 months in solitude working on an album, so that I can learn to love them again. IT'S FOR YOUR BENEFIT, NOT MINE!

Plus, the film clip doesn't exactly offer anything I haven't seen 9000 times before.

Moving on!

Manchester Orchestra-



First things first, let me just say how refreshing it is to find a solid independent track getting some recognition on the major charts. Independent music and unestablished bands often seem to get the stiff arm from alot of the major music publications (Looks at his pile of Rolling Stone magazines) so it's always a good thing to see such a quality song released for the public.

No matter how I look at I've Got Friends and Manchester Orchestra as a band, I can't help but see alot of the early Kings of Leon in them. Just like Kings lead singer Caleb Followill, the frontman for Manchester Orchestra, Andy Hull seems to have a natural ear for hooks that are going to dig into your consciousness. I've always been a firm believer in the idea that it doesn't matter what you sing, simply that you sing it with conviction and while the repeated chorus "I've got friends in all the right places," may not be saying anything truly groundbreaking in terms of lyrical inventiveness, Hull sings it with a forcefullness and intensity that ensures it will get over with the audience.

The music itself is gritty and thankfully not overproduced. While the simple repeated guitar and piano riffs may annoy some people, I simply see this as an easy listening rock song, at the end of the day, the main goal of the band is to give you something to rock out to and enjoy, not a multi layered monstrosity to be dissected.

Quite simply, if what you're looking to do is drink, dance, and talk crap amongst friends, this is the song for you; if you're looking to pull a song apart and examine every little intricacy in the music, you should walk away now


There can only be one!

And which is it? This is probably the hardest pick I've had to make in my lengthy 3-week employment here. I'm a fan of both groups and each song and considered simply handing down my first dead heat. But when I realized that would be the pussy way out, I decided to give it to Manchester Orchestra, based purely on the fact that I've listened that Kings Of Leon album to death. If you know what's good for you though, you'll immerse yourself in both of these bands. Lord knows they both have something good to give.


Now If You'll excuse me I'm off to listen to my next generation Ipod



ROCK!

Until next time, Get your ass to Mars.