Critic's pick: Kings Of Leon with Secret Machines and Helio Sequence @ Ryman Auditorium (Saturday, August 20, 2005)
by Marc Hirsh

originally published in Nashville Scene, August 18-24, 2005

It’s reductive to say that the Kings Of Leon aren’t Southern rock in precisely the same way that it’s reductive to assume that that designation has any meaning. They are from the South, it’s true, and their rock ‘n’ roll is a bit on the raw side, but all you have to do is take a look at their recent Volkswagen ad – in which a grouchy downstairs neighbor turns a “Molly’s Chambers”-lovin’ young couple into responsible homeowners – to know that the band’s real region of origin is Urbanhipsteria. As if to declare their allegiance, they’re touring with two bands that owe more to Brian Eno than to Marshall Tucker. Dallas-by-way-of-New-York critical darlings the Secret Machines have bowed out of a number of recent dates for reasons of “bereavement,” though the Ryman claims that they’re still a go. Even if they bail, though, you’ll still be able to get your prog fix thanks to the Helio Sequence, whose version of “Tomorrow Never Knows” is sort of the perfect song for their sonic experimentalism: it’s neither a slavish cover nor a radical reworking, loose enough to make it their own and faithful enough to honor the spirit of the original.

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