Kings Of Leon, the Nashville collective of Followill's who have been endlessly referred to as a southern rock Strokes, are back with Aha Shake Heartbreak; their second album of rock-infused, swamp-boogie. Right away, things are noticeably different on this new record. Let's start with the good. Musically, Kings of Leon are much, much tighter here than they were on their debut. Jared and Matthew Followill have, seemingly over-night, sharpened their chops to the point that they have become absolutely first-rate guitarists - bass and lead respectively. It's tough to not give them that kind of respect after listening to their incredible interplay on gems like "King Of The Rodeo" and "Taper Jean Girl."

Now let's talk about the not so good. Also in the period of one album, Caleb Followill has gone from decent lyricist and vocalist, to scattered, silly lyricist and a garbled "is that a fake Jamaican accent I hear"? vocalist. Lyrically, "Milk" has some of the worst lines in recent memory with winners such as "she saw my comb-over, her hourglass body, she has problems with drinking milk and being school tardy". Not only do most of Caleb's lines on Aha Shake Heartbreak not make sense, they're completely stupid to boot. That, and the fact that he seems to be pandering to British audiences (where Kings of Leon are surprisingly huge) by using words like "fags" instead of cigarettes, and so forth. As I mentioned before, vocally for the most part on Aha Shake Heartbreak Caleb sounds like a Jamaican with a southern drawl. But the absolute worst is on "Day Old Blues" where he sounds exactly like Adam Sandler's excited southerner from his What The Hell Happened To Me? Album. Every time I hear it, I keep waiting for Adam Sandler to say "And now the excited southerner sings 'Day Old Blues'", it's just that tragically funny.

Kings Of Leon surely have the musical talent and rock 'n' roll oomph to keep them going for years to come, but if Caleb doesn't solve this problem with lyrical obsequiousness, there may not be a reason for listeners to care.