The Kaiser Chiefs - Yours Truly, Angry Mob.

It took me a while to get into The Kaiser Chiefs, I have to admit. The turning point may have been watching them play live on the second stage at V Festival a couple of years back. Judging by the size and enthusiasm of the crowd, I felt like I'd been missing out on something quite special.

Their debut album was ok and although I found constant keyboard nagging a little....well, nagging, I can't help but feel like they were onto something. Unfortunately, they apparently didn't feel the same, hence the lack of nagging hooks on this album, instead being replaced with a more guitar based, vocal washed, drum pounding album that feels like it's been written with the sole intention of being played live in large Arenas and Festivals.
I'm not sure if I'm being slightly unfair by saying that sometimes their lyrics seem to struggle. There are often times when the same word or phrase is repeated and it begs the question, "run out of ideas or just rushing to get something released?".

Ruby, the lead single, is also the opening track. I dunno what it is, but this always makes me uncomfortable about an album. Have they put the single that's likely to gain the most radio play as track one because the rest of the album doesn't quite live it to it? In this case I kinda think so because there's nothing else coming close to being this 'instant'.

Snapping at it's heals for radio play, but nowhere near as infectious is The Angry Mob. A Shed Seven-esq song which bounces along at quite a nice pace. This should surely be a single! The bridge contains all those familiar Kaiser elements, I just wish the guitar was more chunky. It's there, but it's almost lost at times. When the chants of "We are the angry mob" come in towards the end, you can just imagine how this is gonna become a live favourite.

Heat Dies Down sounds like an out take from the previous album, less the nagging keyboard of course. Guitar driven, uptempo, with a catchy chorus. What more could they want? The guitar riff is bang on the money, it's just a shame it sounds like they ran out of things to say in the chorus. Good song though.

Highroyds begins with some promising feedback, then launches into an untidy song that attempts to be a lot more 'rock' than it is. His vocals don't sit very well with this song, either in the way he delivers them or the fact that his accent is creeping out. I dunno, but something doesn't sound too clever.

Next is Love's Not A Competition (But I'm Winning). A dreamy song, with acoustic guitar and atmospheric keyboards that pay pleasantries on the ear. Again, there's a 'dated' feel to this song, drawing elements from 80's bands that struggled to find a market. He sounds good singing this one, backed up with some nice harmonised backing vocals and some interesting guitar play. Sounding very much like the producer was actually sat at the chair when they mixed this.

Thank You Very Much gallops along nicely. Beginning with keyboards, this sounds promising. The rest of the band kick in and the guitar takes over the keyboard parts, which is a shame. The chorus would be in more familiar territory on their debut album and should this be a single, people would undoubtedly recognise it as a Kaiser Chiefs song long before said chorus kicks in.

I Can Do It Without You is pleasant enough. But what's with all the repetition again? On the first few listens of the album, this song stood out as being the one with the guitar solo in it. It's nothing outstanding, in fact sneeze and you might miss it, but there's definitely a solo in there. Good harmonies in this song, coupled with lush melodies and nice under-pinning from the keyboard. It breaks down towards the end and it would have been nice to have continued along that theme a little longer.

My Kind Of Guy has an even longer guitar solo. It's almost like they just realised they had a guitar player in the band who can do more than just strum power chords. Once again, we have a catchy chorus, but it feels lost in the rest of the song. Three quarters of the way through and it's apparent they didn't have an ending for this song, so lets all just strum along with each other until we get the nod to fade each other out.

Everything Is Average Nowadays has that familiar keyboard sound that dominated their previous album. And it's just not enough. His vocals are borderline shouty, particularly on the chorus and at just over 2.40, you can't but wonder if it could have been a great song with a bit more work. That said, this has 'anthem potential' written all over it.

Boxing Champ slows thing down. Sung by the drummer, accompanied by a meandering piano and what do ya know, it's really rather good. If anything, at least it shows they are willing to give different things a try and in my opinion this really works, even if it is very short. Running at one and a half minutes gives even The Smiths a run for their money in the concise stakes.

Learnt My Lesson Well has a great guitar riff that begs live crowds to jump up in the air and pound their fists. Unfortunately, it's rather short lived when it gets drowned out by the rest of the song.

Try Your Best is another slower tempo song. Nice verse and chorus arrangement alongside a quietly building wall of instruments behind. A touch of Blur here perhaps? This would have a great song to finish off the album. It's got that 'draw a line under this one' feel to it and sounds like the most produced song on the album.

Retirement finishes off this album and what a shame. After the previous song, this just doesn't sit well at all, well not in my ears anyway. Drums a la Doves, washed guitar chords and a mass of vocals all fighting for space don't do this song any favours. A case of one song too many?

Ok, so I'm not too taken by his vocals, but sometimes their lyrics are borderline amusing. I can't help imagine these being easy songs for a band who play down the Local Working Man's Club to master, but perhaps that's the appeal of them. Stories unfold quite easily within the lyrics and let's face it, it hasn't done The Arctic Monkeys any harm, has it.

It's a Kaiser Chiefs album, that's for sure. They've matured their sound since Employment, that's also a given, but I don't think it's the sort of album that you would over-hear playing in a local music store and go, "hey, what's this?"
Is it a competent second album, often seen as the most difficult?
Well, it's not a let down, but then again....

Currently filed in my 'give it a few more listens' folder.