Holy Roller Novocaine

Holy Roller Novocaine is the debut EP of the American rock band Kings of Leon, released on February 18, 2003. A re-release as a 10" red vinyl single was issued in April 2011 celebrating the "International Recordstore Day".

Holy Roller Novocaine was released a few months before Kings of Leon's debut Youth and Young Manhood hit the shelves, and it garnered significant attention from music critics. The song "Molly's Chambers" appeared in a Volkswagen Jetta commercial, and the song "Holy Roller Novocaine" is used at the end of the episode "Playing Tight" of the third season of The Shield. The songs range from bluesy sounds to organ-infused ballads. One of the largest factors to their sound is the unpolished way in which they play and record their music, preferring to keep everything basic with minimal overdubs, if any at all. This way of playing would be further explored with their five later albums.

Holy Roller Novocaine contains alternate takes of songs found on the follow-up Youth and Young Manhood. The version of "Wasted Time" is different than the same track off Youth and Young Manhood, with the EP version having a more tense riff and different vocal stylings. "California Waiting" is also different. The version of "California Waiting" found on the Holy Roller Novocaine EP was recorded in a rush to finish the record. The band initially didn't like the outcome, so they wrote a new version, which is found on Youth and Young Manhood. However, on Kings of Leon's VH1 Storytellers performance, Caleb Followill stated before playing California Waiting that "We kind of sabotaged it on our album, and tried to play it really punk rock. It was better on the EP I think." "Wicker Chair" is not found on any later major releases, besides a few singles and the Japanese import of Youth and Young Manhood.

Read more about Holy Roller Novocaine:  Track Listing

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