An oft brazen posse, Kasabian have taken over Europe and beyond by storm and surprisingly toppled Muse’s stranglehold on the NME’s Best Live Band award. The bullishness, swagger, and verve they bring on stage and into interviews are often misconstrued as yob-like and chav-ish, causing many to dismiss the band with Oasis comparisons and Britpop pigeonholing.
These comparisons are further compounded by the group’s ascension everywhere but America, mirroring the similar fate of The Kinks, The Jam, Blur, Pulp, and a stream of Brit bands that never found a foothold on these shores. Yet, unlike the many who suffered these consequences before them, the Leicestershire quintet really doesn’t give a ... care.
Unphased and determined, Kasabian just released their fourth studio album, Velociraptor!, their most experiential and musically diverse to date.
Instead of playing it safe and replicating the formula of their previous release, the million selling West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, the lads here eschew comfort for eclecticism. More hodge than podge, Velociraptor! meanders with forceful purpose.
The extremes between Velociraptor! tracks are initially jarring, which seems to be the desired effect. For the first few listens, the album felt like a collection of songs versus a cohesive opus. Then a transformation took place with subsequent playings: it all came together, causing a personal metamorphosis for me as a listener. While not as extreme as Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music or Will Sergeant’s Theme for Grind, Velociraptor! still forced me to re-think my perceptions of what an album is or should be. That is no small feat for an old dog like me, and it is the antithesis of the Oasis modus operandi, which seemed to reinforce the conventional album construct.
Starting with a gong and a drone, the opener, "Let’s Roll Just Like We Used To," abruptly shifts atmospherically from something transcendental to Motown-flavoured Britpop, complete with a “Cemetery Gates” reference. And it’s only the first of many sleight-of-hands ahead. Not satisfied with just flavouring, Kasabian drive deeper into the Motor City with "Goodbye Kiss," which is underwritten with a "Be My Baby"-tinged jingle.
Article comments
1 - Mark R
The Kinks have been a major band in America since 1965, they sold out Madison Square Garden several times, had numerous Top Twenty hits and albums and were inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. The number of important American artists they influenced is endless, their music is still used for high-profile adverts, films and TV shows. To say they never found a foothold in America is absurd.
2 - Arthur
The Kinks had many long stretches of irrelevance in the USA: they were perceived as "too British" when they were doing classics like Arthur. They certainly never attained the status of peers like the Stones, Beatles, and even The Who in America. Not that this is really all that central to the review in question -- but nevertheless.