Melody And A Break

For no good explicable reason, I've been on a bit of a non-metal kick. Maybe it's all this rainy weather that's got my desire to run around a flower laden meadow stomping on daisies while cranking Bleeding Through on the ole iPod in check...either way, I've been exploring some different bands and opening my eyes and ears to a little something different. And this is what I've found:

Melody and rhythm are appealing across genres.

Ya, that's my revelation for the week. Of the purchases I've made recently (which include Brand New and The Gaslight Anthem as well) I've picked up the newest Kings of Leon disc, Only By The Night. All kidding aside, I'm kinda impressed by it. I swear I haven't lost my edge. What wound up jumping out at me are the rhythm and melody of the songs on this record. I wouldn't go as far as to say that their songs are overly complex or delicate. In fact, there really isn't a lot going on behind the vocals, guitars, and drums...save some very understated synthesizers...but all in all it's pretty straight forward.

I had a good listen to the CD in traffic on my way back from Hell-A. With the windows up and the CD playing loud as all hell I was trying to figure out what exactly appealed to me about the record. There really aren't any totally bitchin' guitar tones going on. The drums sound kinda like drums...surprise. I mean, there weren't any crazy room sounds, snare tunings, drum tones that blew me out of the water. Sometimes the vocals got a little too grainy (in effect, not his actual voice) for me to particularly enjoy. I guess there might be one or two parts that had an interesting bass tone. I mean, it obviously sounds like a well produced CD, but it's production value wasn't what I was enjoying.

There was no epiphany or booming kick tone or something that made me fall out of my chair or anything...I just slowly realized that the beauty in the songs was their familiarity or comfort. The structure and rhythmic textures of the songs made sense and kept it interesting. Beyond that, the melodies in the songs were really comfortable.

No matter what genre, there will always be times where you catch a passage and think, "oh hey, that was cool!" I was playing some Slipknot for my mom once and in a particularly brutal passage she pipes up with "Ooh! Syncopation! That was neat!" So I suppose what I've got to say is that whereas Kings of Leon aren't a band I would have normally sought out, I'm glad I picked them up. They're entertaining to listen to. There's enough going on in its composition for me to stay interested but its different enough from my normal sonic-brain-pounding to be a nice breath of fresh air.


Don't worry though, I've been sure to balance this new found softitude with plenty of Bring Me The Horizon, Underoath, Darkest Hour, and Poison the Well...of course. I've still got the metal in me.