California Waiting California Waiting "California Waiting" is the fourth single taken from the "Youth and Young Manhood" album by the American rock band Kings of Leon. An alternate version of the song appears on their debut release, the EP "Holy Roller Novocaine". This version was recorded in a rush to finish the record. The band didn't like the outcome, so they recorded 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
Youth & Young Manhood genre, with "NME" hailing the album among the "best debuts of the past 10 years." AllMusic claimed the album wasn't "sonically adventurous", but that "in the new-millennium pop realm, some greasy licks sure sound good." James Hunter of "The Village Voice" called the album "2003's finest rock debut," saying the band had built off of its first EP. Greg Kot, writing in "Rolling Stone", declared that the band knew "when to lay back and let things simmer" as well as "when to jump up and testify with tambourines banging" in a favorable review. "Rolling Stone" critics named it the 10th-best