Kings of Leon’s first EP, Holy Roller Novocaine, was the first official release from the Southern rock band who dominated so much of the noughties with their thrilling steel-wire sound. Now, they’re back with EP #2, a four-track romp with a chip on its shoulder and everything to prove.
The cover, a duplicated cherry-print pattern, looks like the sort of late ‘60s design Anita Pallenberg would have had printed on a cotton dress, and yet despite the psychedelia of the record – an attitude especially prevalent on ‘To Space’ – it’s soft; certainly not explicit enough to make EP #2 feel like a summertime album.
There’s a drowsy, skewwhiff stance they take on ‘All the Little Sheep’ that serves as a fault line through the rest of the record. It’s felt in…