If I See Yellow One More Time

It's that time of year—and that time of decade—when lists are aplenty. I'll have my own in the upcoming weeks, but, for now, I do have to comment on what other people and publications have come up with thus far. Specifically, the prevalence of the song "Yellow" by Coldplay. Really? Listen to it again. This is one of your favorite/most definitive/trailblazing/[pick your adjective of praise] song of the last decade? My apologies to Mr. Martin, but on my list, Coldplay is first among the most overrated bands of the last decade.

They Pulled Me Back In...Maybe

Just when I'd given up on Kings of Leon, having begrudgingly written them off as sell-outs who've become way too big for their own good, Caleb gives us evidence that there's hope for them yet. Somewhere beneath the media-whoring, Top 40, arena rock band shell of what KOL once was, there may still exist the no-frills southern rockers I came to love. From Spin Magazine:

"We definitely got bigger than we wanted to be," Caleb tells SPIN. "You feel like you've done something wrong. That woman in mom jeans who'd never let me date her daughter? She likes my music. That's fucking not cool. You almost start doing damage control: When people ask you to do stuff, you're like, 'No, because I can already tell this record is going to get to a level where people will fucking hate us.'"

And I was starting to. While I did enjoy Only By The Night, my feelings about it were tainted by how blatantly calculated it was. The album was made with the intention of catapulting the band to superstardom in America. (They'd enjoyed it in Britain for years.) I assumed the frenzy that followed had given them such swollen egos (Shortly after the album's release, Caleb bitterly greeted his adoring San Francisco fans, myself included, with "Thanks San Francisco. It's about time y'all finally caught on.") that they were creatively doomed. But they seem to have bitten off more than they could chew. This interview reveals that Caleb hasn't completely turned to mainstream mush. More importantly, he seems aware of the danger in that. With his rebellious streak comes a preference for the freedom that the periphery allows. At this point, it would be hard for them to veer too far from the spotlight, but at least they know when to stop climbing.