Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak [2LP 180-gram]

Aha Shake Heartbreak is the sound of Kings of Leon becoming famous faster than they could process it, now spread across 180-gram 2LP.

The Followill brothers and their cousin came out of Tennessee with a preacher father and almost no formal musical education, and their 2003 debut turned them into stars in Britain long before America paid attention. This 2004 follow-up was written on the road in the middle of that, and it shows. Ethan Johns produced again, keeping everything raw and close-miked, and Caleb Followill sings most of it in a yelp so mangled that half the lyrics are anyone's guess. That was always part of the appeal.

The Bucket is still the perfect distillation of them at this stage, a taut riff and a chorus about being nineteen and out of your depth. Four Kicks is two minutes of pure nervous energy, King of the Rodeo swaggers on a guitar line that never sits still, and Soft is the record's most uncomfortable and funniest moment, a song about failing to perform that nobody else would have put on an album this early.

Years before the stadiums and the arena choruses, this is the band at their most feral and least polished. Some people never forgave them for growing up.