Noel Gallagher selects the best band to come out of the US: “Really, really fucking good”
Noel Gallagher has notoriously never held back when it comes to voicing his opinions. Whether it’s regarding his own family or the state of the music business at large, his views can be brutal – but, let’s be fair, often great entertainment. What we don’t get to hear so much, however, are Gallagher’s more positive estimations, meaning that when he does occasionally pop out with a favourable review, it makes you sit up and listen.
Of course, Gallagher’s main forte is firmly rooted in the British scene, but it doesn’t stop him from taking a gander across the pond and having a peruse of America’s rock exports. Within this, he has previously blasted certain outfits, but in one 2012 interview, he confessed there was a band that undoubtedly stood out above the rest: Kings of Leon.
When asked about his thoughts on the Tennessee band, the Oasis man enthused: “To me, they’re up there with some of the greatest to come out of the States – really, really fucking good.” With that seal of approval, Gallager’s clearly a fan. But in many ways, apart from the music, he may find himself a kindred spirit to the Southern rock four-piece in more ways than one.
Much like Oasis, the road to success was hard fought for Kings of Leon. Comprised of brothers Caleb, Nathan, and Jared Followill, alongside their cousin Matthew Followill, the band formed in 1999 but didn’t achieve their height of mainstream critical attention until later, in 2008, when their third album Only by the Night scored them a slew of rock recognition on both sides of the Atlantic.
The blazing power of hits like ‘Sex on Fire’ and ‘Use Somebody’ reinvigorated a mass approval of alternative rock – incidentally also gaining prominence through the rise of the indie sleaze movement at the time – but evidently also struck the right chord with Gallagher in that moment, too. Maybe it was their fresh vision that drew him in or that brotherly bond that obviously resonated with him all too well.
What both bands also have in common is acknowledging the power of a hiatus – although, admittedly, one of them took that notion to much more extreme lengths than the other. But following Kings of Leon’s six-month break back in 2013, unfortunately the band have never quite managed to find their footing again. For Oasis, on the other hand, what lies ahead after their reunion tour this summer, well, that’s anyone’s guess.
Nevertheless, the weight of a Gallagher vote of confidence must have been buoyant for Kings of Leon, which fares a better fate than the Britpop overlord’s view of some of their other rock counterparts on the Stateside scene. While it might seem like a call down from the heavens above, the real test would be putting the two bands up against each other and seeing which one emerges supreme. Cast your bets now because it definitely has the possibility of descending into a bitter brawl.
