A family band stays close to its roots

In the grand tradition of R&B; and early rock ‘n’ roll, the three brothers in the young band Kings of Leon got their musical education in church, during the years when their dad was an itinerant Pentecostal minister. At the the band’s packed Viper Room performance Thursday, that formative influence came across in the players’ unself-conscious execution of primitively emotional songs that blended classic, Southern and garage rock.

The Tennessee-based group comprises members of the Followill family -- brothers Caleb (vocals, rhythm guitar), Nathan (drums), Jared (bass) and cousin Matthew (lead guitar). Shaggy-headed and sporting faded vintage T-shirts, they played 40 minutes of taut, ringing music that often recalled the Strokes and early Rolling Stones.

Selections from their forthcoming debut album, “Youth and Young Manhood,” reflected the brothers’ passing childhood exposure to such acts as the Stones, Tom Petty and Led Zeppelin, but Jared’s playing also carried the restless rhythmic pulse of Southern-gospel bass. Caleb’s vocals were raw but appealing, evoking Petty’s elastic, lazy drawl and a bit of young Mick Jagger. Indeed, the band had a kind of troglodyte charm, both inept and elegant, fueled by a delicious sense of putting righteous intensity in the service of the devil’s music.

Not everything stood out, but there were encouraging highlights, including the anguished blues of “Wicker Chair,” about helplessly watching someone self-destruct, and the pure sex of “Molly’s Chambers,” a hip-grinding 21st century garage-rocker.