when and how did Kings of Leon become bigger than The Strokes?

I was at a Carnegie's tonight hanging out with Cassidy. The place plays mostly classic rock (mostly they did throw in some Nsync)... AC/DC, Journey, Bowie, etc.

But twice in one hour, they played Kings of Leon. In fact the Kings were the only band to get repeat play.

"Everyone at the bar was just singing the lyrics, I can't believe how big they have become," said Cassidy.

I thought the same thing three weeks ago when I was in LA. Since I badly missed driving, I drove as often and as much as I could during my time in LA, and between the two rock stations in LA (KROQ and 98.7) I heard Kings of Leon basically every 25 minutes.

I remember seeing Kings of Leon in 2002 when they opened for The Strokes. I remember when they were known as "Redneck Strokes" (or "Southern Strokes", whatever). For a while it seemed they would always be in The Strokes' shadows.

But now, they're bigger than The Strokes ever were. At least mainstream and commercially speaking.

The Strokes impact on rock can't be deny though. At least according to Europeans. In the UK or other areas of Europe, their impact still resonates. Basically, the general consensus around Europe is that The Strokes helped revived the postpunk revival genre AND spawned countless imitators. Jamie told me this. Cassidy confirmed it. At a Duffy interview two weeks ago, she even talked about how "The Strokes changed music when they came out".

Ironically, The Strokes' (hailing from NYC) impact on the states isn't nearly as big. They got radioplay, sure. But they were always just this hip, cool indie-ish band. They were never huge in the states, Not the way Green Day was in 2004 or Kings of Leon is right now in LA.

Back to Kings of Leon. I wonder what is it that got them so big? Sure their Aha Shake Heartbreak is absolutely rad, but it's not radder than Is This It.

Me thinks its just the perfect storm. I mean Kings of Leon is good and they deserve to be this big. But I wonder how. And I feel this type of explosion shoulda gone to The Strokes. So why didn't it?

My favorite albums this decade:

1: The Stroke's Is this It

2: The White Stripe's Elephant

3: Kings of Leon's Aha Shake Heartbreak

4: Green Day's Warning

5: Radiohead's In Rainbows