Kings of Leon Tour Dates

Kings of Leon have announced some U.S. shows. I've actually been pleasantly surprised by Because of the Times. KOL have always managed to come up with hits ("Knocked Up" and "McFearless" are their latest) but this album seems to be more consistently solid throughout. I haven't seen them live before but Roseland? Maybe next time...

I imagine a DC date will come later. Tour Dates:

May 2 Seattle, WA - Moore Theater
May 3 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
May 5 Denver, CO - Ogden
May 6 Kansas City, MO - Voodoo Lounge @ Harrah's
May 7 Tulsa, OK - Cains
May 9 Austin, TX - Stubbs
May 11 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
May 12 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
May 13 Dallas, TX - House of Blues
May 15 Indianapolis, IN - Vogue
May 17 Milwaukee, WI - Rave
May 18 Minneapolis, MN - First Ave.
May 19 Chicago, IL - Riviera
May 21 Louisville, KY - headliners
May 22 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
May 24 Cincinnati, OH - Bogarts
May 25 St. Louis, MO - Pageant
June 1 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
June 2 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
June 5 New York, NY - Roseland
June 6 Boston, MA - Avalon
June 7 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
June 12 Toronto, ONT - Kool Haus
June 16 - Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Festival

Taking Me Back (Thank You Kaiser Chiefs)

I have to say that I'm impressed. Kaiser Chiefs' Yours Truly, Angry Mob is out in the U.K. next Monday, that's February 26th (3/26 in the U.S.), and there is no sign of it anywhere on the internet. No leak to speak of. As far as music goes in the mid-00's, this has to be some sort of record right? And I think this is great, a total throwback to the days when we didn't hear an album until it hit shelves. Now of course, this isn't quite a perfect scenario since there is a month lag between the U.K. and U.S. release dates but I have to give the band's management credit for keeping this one under wraps.

Right now, at least from what I can tell, the only place to preview some additional tracks is at AOL Spinner.

Kings of Leon and Dinosaur Jr. are slightly less fortunate. Both Because of the Times and Beyond have hit the WWW. The albums won't be available until 4/5 and 5/1, respectively. I've taken an early look at both and the new Kings of Leon seems a bit uneven at times but they have a knack for coming up with sick stand-out tracks and right now, that's "Knocked Up" and "McFearless." As for Dinosaur Jr., I'm not as familiar with their past work as I should be but if this album doesn't conjure up memories of the guitar-infused rock of 15-20 years ago, then nothing will. And it's glorious...

Download two songs at P4K.

Kings of Leon Set Release Date

From Filter-Mag:

"Everyone's favorite Southern family is back, and no, we don't mean the Judds, we mean the Followill clan, known to most as Kings Of Leon, whose third full-length, Because Of The Times, is set to hit stateside April 3rd on RCA Records. As for the inspiration for the album's name? Because Of The Times refers to an annual preachers' conference the boys attended while growing up the sons of a Pentecostal minister named, yes, Leon." [Filter-Mag]

UPDATE: Kings of Leon will be premiering a new single from the album this Friday, 2/2 on their MySpace page.