“Come Around Sundown” marks the fifth studio effort by indie-southern rockers Kings of Leon and though it won’t revolutionize rock music, it’s certainly better than a lot of what plays on the radio these days.

The album starts with the somber, “The End” which ironically does sound like it should be the closing track to the CD. Lead singer Caleb Followill, who by the way is one of three brothers and a cousin (Nathan, Jared and Matthew Followill) that make up the band, sings with a sickly-sweet tang, “I just want to hold you, I just want to take you by the hand, this could be the end, this could be the end.” The whole song is a ballad of forlorn love and wanting, it is a classic Kings of Leon song, but feels far too early in this album.

It leads into the band’s first single, “Radioactive” which is decidedly more upbeat. Starting with a fun beat and it sounds like a little cowbell, which is always appreciated, Caleb drawls about not losing yourself telling the listener to “drink the water where you came from, where you came from, so the road was carved from nothing, never sold yourself away.”

The next stand-out track is the fourth one titled, “Mary”. It starts on big surge of guitars and Caleb’s voice blasting in a 50s doo wop style. The only thing keeping this from being played at the prom in Back to the Future are the edgy guitar riffs and the fact that Marty McFly would probably have a hard time convincing the Followill brothers to play “Johnny B. Goode” in the middle of their performance.

The next couple of tracks kind of blur together in a slow and soothing way that makes me want to reach for some sweet tea and sit on my front porch. I especially like track seven, “Back Down South”. It is the perfect song to have playing in the background while doing homework or while driving down some country road. Some songs perfectly set the mood for the action you’re doing and this song creates that visceral image of what it must be like back down in the South.

The album starts to pick back up with the almost too-cool “No Money”. I think this would have made an excellent starting track because the guitars at the beginning really build in a rollicking fashion and with Caleb’s singing the song blends into a much more up-tempo piece. I say almost too-cool because I could totally see this song being played over the opening credits for a John Hughes ’80s teen-centered film.

The next two tracks, “Pony Up” and “Birthday” don’t sound at all like each other but both have such fun and instantly likeable qualities to them they’re two of my favorites on the whole album. They both harken back to some of the band’s earlier efforts, think “Because of the Times” and “Aha Shake Heartbreak” and you’ll have an idea of what I mean. And if you haven’t heard either of these albums do yourself a favor and listen to them.

The final track, “Pickup Truck” definitely sounds like an ending track. It is a little bit slower, something to help the listener wind down after the auditory experience and kind of chill out. The track isn’t the strongest on the album with a pretty repetitive chorus that doesn’t do a whole lot for me but is still worth at least one listen through.

“Come Around Sundown” doesn’t supplant “Aha Shake Heartbreak” as my favorite Kings of Leon album, but it is definitely a good listen. It is always nice to see a band grow and change its sound as it progresses through its career and with this album Kings of Leon have accomplished that without alienating their original fan-base.

The next time I am planning a drive down some solitary country road or even, God forbid, doing homework, I will certainly explore this section of the Kings of Leon canon.

Matt Rascher can be reached at [email protected]