Kings of Leon, a young act hailing from Tennessee, performed at Toad’s Place on Tuesday, Sept. 27. They find themselves in New Haven on their prolonged tour in promotion of their second album, “Aha Shake Heartbreak.” The southern rockers recently arrived back from a highly successful British leg of the tour and are in the midst of duplicating that success stateside.
While some try to pigeonhole the group as purely 70s southern rock revivalists (mainly for their retro look), the facts point to something different. The family act of three brothers and a cousin with the same surname, Followill, utilize a foul-mouthed and depraved style despite a fundamental Christian upbringing.
With their first two releases, Kings of Leon have been doing one of the hardest things in rock, creating a unique sound. Their composition is built around singer Caleb’s refreshingly jarring drawl that screeches to a hybridization of English blues and garage rock with southern sensibility. From there, the Kings mix in an unrelenting beat built around drummer Nathan’s stylings and buttressed by bassist Jared’s simple yet intoxicating groove. The end result is audio dirt, a fuzzed whirlwind of contoured noise.
With much said, the self-proclaimed Kings took stage amidst a screen of pomp and hype. They did not disappoint. The band came out swinging with appropriate and energetic opener, “Molly’s Chambers,” that left Caleb drenched in sweat by song’s end.
As they moved on, the retro-clad, chain-smoking band members induced a frenzy of fist-pumps and foot-stomps. This crowd heard just what their British counterparts did: a band on the cusp of sensation.
The band clanged and crooned through the 70-minute set with songs from the first release, “Youth and Young Manhood,” but relied more heavily on the newer album. As the night rolled on, Cousin Matthew’s presence on lead guitar could really be felt. During their single, “The Bucket,” he jabbed in and out, branding the landscape with his scorching riffs for an already enthralled audience. From there, Kings of Leon weaved through one crowd pleaser after another, going from the catchy “California Waiting” to the more subdued and grimy ballad “Trani.”
The performance reached a climax during the end of the main set with “Slow Night, So Long,” which culminated in a fury of repeated drum fills without the frill. Caleb thanked the crowd before heading backstage for making their first return to Connecticut in two years a memorable one.
The band then returned for their two-song encore. They set their still-lit cigarettes between the strings of their guitar’s heads and went back to work. For their closer, they chose the riveting yet restrained “Dusty,” which slowly simmered into the night and calmed ringing ears: an appropriate end.
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