All the Kings' Gems: 10 Essential Kings of Leon Tracks

For Austin Scaggs' feature "God, the Devil and Kings of Leon," check out our new issue on stands now.

Kings of Leon started out as preacher's sons forbidden to listen to anything but church music and turned into the new gods of dirty Southern rock & roll. Austin Scaggs traveled around the world with the band of brothers for Rolling Stone's new cover story, on newsstands now. Here's a guide to the hard-rocking, hard-living Followills' best tracks — click here to listen along:

"Molly's Chambers"
The dirty, flirty riff-chugging mess of a debut single that got the Followill boys dubbed the "Southern Strokes" (ugh). They had it, we wanted it. Fire up the General Lee.

"Happy Alone"
Their 2003 debut Youth and Young Manhood's bounciest tune. Caleb babbles about dancing around in your high heels and cherry lipstick and Lord knows what else as he conjures the spirit of Jerry Lee Lewis' heathen boogie and the Velvet Underground's depraved punk rock. Great gutbucket guitar solo too.

"Trani"
A heartwarming codeine-mouthed tale of hick-boy hookers hanging around the Greyhound Station going down on whoever's got a bump of coke and a smoke — not exactly Newt Gingrich's vision of life in the New South. The Exile On Main Street guitars and slow-burning swagger make it menacing. Caleb's empathetic singing makes it kinda tender.

"The Bucket"
On the band's 2005 Aha Shake Heartbreak, Caleb's singing matured (or regressed, depends on your perspective) into an unintelligible moonshine 'n' madness grumble that sounded like he got up every morning and poured axel grease on his pancakes. This rumbling ramble tamble jam is an excellent case in point.

"King of the Rodeo"
Aha Shake Heartbreak's ode to a "cowgirl king of the rodeo" is one of their punchiest blurts of Dixie new wave — it's wound tighter than a goose's ass and it flips and twists like a possum in the bathtub. A masterstroke of Southern Strokesness.