Choice Cut : ''Slow Night, So Long,'' ''King Of The Rodeo,'' ''Taper Jean Girl,'' ''Pistol Of Fire,'' ''Milk,'' ''The Bucket,'' ''Day Old Blues,'' ''Velvet Snow''

Sounds Like: While critics often compared the sound on their debut album Youth and Young Manhood to Neil Young and Creedence Clearwater Revival, this, their second album, is actually closer in style to that of New York Neo-New Wavers The Strokes, as in Nathan Followill's minimalist, offbeat percussion, Matthew Followill's angular guitar riffs, Jared's fluidly undulating bass lines, and also in frontman Caleb Followill's lazy, tobacco-ravaged gravelly vocals.

You May Have Heard: In what must be one of life's most peculiar ironies, the Christian-Fundamentalist-raised Followill brothers were introduced to the devil's music whilst they were growing up on the road with their itinerant evangelist father, Leon. Taking a sly dig at their father as well as their biblical names, the Followill brothers -- Caleb (lead vocals/rhythm guitar) Nathan (drums), Jared (bass) -- and cousin Matthew (lead guitar), got together as band sometime in the early 2000's and named themselves the Kings of Leon. In February 2003, they debuted with the five-track Holy Roller Novocaine EP. Youth & Young Manhood followed six months later, winning such early acclaim as a four-star review in Rolling Stone magazine, leading the Kings to modest international fame.

We Fancy: Caleb sounds uncannily like a hillbilly version of David Thomas on opening track "Slow Night, So Long," which also bears some resemblance to Modern Dance-era Pere Ubu with its syncopated rhythm, sudden thrashing instrumental breaks and one-note bass doodling. The oblique, stream-of-consciousness lyrics that run through the album may not seem intelligible when seen in print, but they sure do make some kind of intuitive aural impressions when they issue forth from the cryptic mush-mouth of Caleb. For instance, the lines -- "He's so the purity, a shaven and a mourning/and standing on a pigeon toe, in his disarray" -- may not make not make any literal sense, but when Caleb sings them in time to the Wire-like mutant cow-punk beat of "King Of The Rodeo," you know somehow it makes perfect sense. Nathan's frantically shuffling tom-tom boogie and Matthew's chiming guitar drive "The Bucket," a romping cynical paean to the rocker's life on the road. "Velvet Snow" sounds like the Ramones entertaining the folks at a rollicking, jubilant square-dance.

We're Not Sure About: It's often very hard to make out what Caleb is singing for throughout most of the album he sings in a half-discernible mumbled drawl. "Milk" is the exception to this rule as it is one of the very rare instances of relaxed delicacy where Caleb is at his most coherent as he tells the quirky tale of a girl with an "hourglass body" who had "problems with drinking milk and being school tardy." Thankfully, the inner-sleeve booklet includes lyrics. Also many of the songs end much too soon. For example, soon after reaching the two-and-a-half minute mark, just as you're getting into the groove of "The Bucket" and you're expecting the band to carry it further into a long ecstatic jam, it just ends abruptly on the line, "18, balding, star." Talk about anti-climaxes!

Verdict: While Aha Shake Heartbreak may lack instantly memorable numbers like Youth And Young Manhood's "Joe's Head" or "Molly's Chambers," it's still a largely enjoyable album whose appeal seems to grow on you with each subsequent listen. Also, the Kings are a band who seem to want to take their own sweet time in building a respectable career in music -- and that's quite a rare and admirable thing in a field dominated these days by instant noodle stars.

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