The Kaiser Chiefs - classic or dud?

The album's OK. Unfortunately, my brain's currently confusing it w/ the Maximo album. The Bloc Party album's got its own plot of brain marked out, tho, so it's safe.

Yeah, I imagine what jaymc's talking about will be the overall consensus - fans of the stuff will be content / go gloriously apeshit, & folks content w/ their Noo Wave album of choice (Franz / Killaz / F-Heads / Partay) will politely abstain / pitch a fit.

(* And erm, yes, I did. Idiot MarkH.)

http://littlepants.com/weirdtrip/images/seth.jpg

the other day i heard "I predict a riot" on Fuse and thought it was a cover of an old buzzcocks song or something. i didn't even realize it was the band i'd seen.

Yes, the Buzzcocks! Not exactly a pastiche....a homage maybe.

She just burned me the album to see if i'd end up liking them anyway. I like 'Oh My God' but the rest of it isn't that good.

Disturbingly i over heard a lot of people talking about Kaiser Chiefs, Killers and The Bravery as though it was a really important movement and how lucky they were.

Kaiser Chiefs are a good enough live band. Plenty of passion. It mainly just made me miss old Blur and Pulp though.

If you mean the name Alex it's the name of a South African soccer team which Lucas Radebe played for before signing to Leeds United. The band are Leeds United fans and for that alone they deserve our sympathy if not our love.

They're a right pain in the arse

So, as i was stood in the middle toward the back i observed the ages of people in attendance. There were a lot of older people (40s,50s), and a lot of really young people. A group of girls no older than 13, in makeup, had baked personalised cakes for band members they were hoping to meet. In the queue outside I overhear various groups of people talking about The Killers, The Bravery and Babyshambles. I even overhear a group of young guys talking about Kaiser Chiefs "They don't really sound like anyone else I can think of" at which point one of them says "Everyone says they sound like Blur but i have Think Tank and I don't think it sounds anything like Kaisers".
By now i'm feeling a bit ridiculous for queuing in the cold and after a panic attack about 20 minutes earlier (involving being trapped on an emergency stairwell) i decide to sit on a wall and have a cigarette. As i'm doing so i overhear some people saying "oooh smoking that's cool..." and various other anti-smoking jibes. (I'm not sure what relevence this has to what i'm saying, by the way).
So, skipping ahead a bit. The roadies have finished doing their stuff and there's a group of girls near me who seem too scared to go any further forward because they don't want to get crushed. It's clear this is their first gig. Now, i'm not trying to come across as condescending or anything like that. My first gig was Blur in 96. And it did feel like something was happening in the country. And from what i can gather tonight a lot of people feel that something is happening in this country. Before tonight i've always thought of Kaiser Chiefs/Bloc Party/The Killers e.t.c as pop bands who have all done singles that i have really liked. Nothing i thought demanded to be taken seriously. But lots of people are taking these bands seriously and lots of people are reading the NME in the same way some of us probably read Melody Maker and NME at the time. And I find this hard to ignore.
The band come on to some heavy strobing effects, which are great (the light show in general is great tonight) because looking around it seems like i've been transported onto the set of 'Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind' (Lots of face shielding, yet not wanting to look away from the stage). The band are passionate and put on a good show. But there's no character. I'm aware I might be going overboard with the Britpop comparisons but it seems to be the closest relation to what the crowd are feeling about the bands and music. But there is no Noel and Liam to dispise and laugh at as they proclaim themselves to be the best band ever; and then have the nerve to come up with world beating singles. There's no (fake) cockney charm and humour of Damon Albarn and the frazzled, mysterious genius of Graham Coxon. And there is certainly no Jarvis. But then i think, maybe these characters and stories were built up by the press in the same way Pete Doherty is now. But it seemed real. Jarvis mooning Michael Jackson didn't seem planned. Blur Vs Oasis seemed like a spontaneous battle of two giants who knew the country wasn't big enough for both egos. And this is just the big three of britpop.
But as i stand there pondering all this and wishing i could just enjoy this pop band playing pop songs on stage there's a nagging feeling that something is missing. To paraphrase a Kaiser Chiefs song "It does not move me, It's not the kind of thing i like". Maybe it's just that. Maybe something exciting is going on and hitting all of the right bases i.e young people, students and the older generation who don't take music too seriously normally.

All the acts that are part of the 'scene' right now are all on their first albums (Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, the Futureheads). They haven't had the time to develop their personalities yet. I think a better comparision (instead of Blur etc) would be to compare these bands to bands like Sleeper, Menswear etc, bands that started on the back of the original Britpop era.

I guess the reason why I don't feel so involved with this current lot is that it's all a bit too sudden. All these bands were playing venues of capacity less than 500 this time last year, but now they are becoming a part of the mainstream. Doing something that used to take about 5 years to achieve at least. It's probably just because the 'indie scene' are now so obsessed about the next big thing (probably a theme that started off the backend of the 90s Britpop era) that these bands are so successful right now. But then the fall from the top will be equally as rapid.

---uh Beatles/Stones

I guess the reason why I don't feel so involved with this current lot is that it's all a bit too sudden.

go tell it to the sex pistols!

I'm still really interested to see what these bands are going to do for second albums. Or will they be swept under the rug for something else by then. Hype machine is too impatient and albums seem to take to long these days. Attention span = nil.

xxpost

I think this is important. It seems almost inconceivable nowadays for any major label (or, increasingly, any indie apart from Rough Trade or, say, Domino) to stick with a guitar band for more than two low-selling albums. The immediate example I can think of is Idlewild, who have been ok but fairly unremarkable for years and (I presume) negotiated a realistic deal in the first place.

Blur survived on account of Andy R0ss's tenacity, and Pulp survived by flitting from little indie to little indie before finally hooking up with Island (ok, Warp offshoot Gift) at the key moment. But that was more by luck than judgement.

What about now? I can't see Kaiser Chiefs having any more longevity than, say, Sleeper (as mentioned). The Killers might have a chance, but only because they've put the international hours in bigtime. The Bravery are the Menswear, only a thousand times worse. Bloc Party will blossom into something hugely exciting and quite weird by their third album - they're Radiohead, I guess. The Futureheads will spend the next five years trying to get away from that Kate Bush cover, while the similar but better looking Maximo Park steal a march on them. Razorlight's Johnny Borrell will become both Liam and Noel and write at least four more songs that'll last for 50 years. Carl Barat will carve out a lucrative solo career then start writing and producing for other people, while Pete D buggers off with La Moss to a remote island to write a brilliant but flawed novel.

And Art Brut will end up on TOTP, and the world will rejoice.

modern way = classic regardless of bro factor.

no no no no no

ban cosmo vitelli

Kaiser Chiefs are one of the best new bands of the oughties because they have brought back the musical values of Britpop.

Speaking of their first album, probably yes. But second album sucks.

T/S: Punch in the knackers versus Kick in the knackers

But yeah, music to date-rape to.

Okay, I hate the Kaiser Chiefs as much as the next guy, but uh? This isn't Limp Bizkit.

I prefer to date-rape to 62daysofstatic or Guillemots. Much more satisfying.

One of my friends went to 'Peanuts' b-day party last week. I haven't had a fun-filled report of whatever wacky hijinks happened yet though.

Speaking of their first album, probably yes. But second album sucks.

The second album is way better because it is more of a pure pop effort, with fewer rough edges and also more melodic singalong songs.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/images/707830.jpg

"I tell you, we have WON the election!"

^ i predict a riot

The second album is way better because it is more of a pure pop effort, with fewer rough edges and also more melodic singalong songs.

-- Geir Hongro, Monday, 31 March 2008 23:11 (2 months ago) Bookmark Link

hongro otm

I'm aware it's all lazy hooks and unisheen pop but the songs work for mine. Lyrics, meh.

Just heard Zane Lowe describe the new Kaiser Chiefs single as "the hottest record on earth" lolz!

The nearest thing we currently have to Slade. The haterz are utterly predictable, reactionary old ILX turds.

It didn't sound too bad to me, its just Zane Lowe being all hyperbolic was pretty funny.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jan/08/kaiser-chiefs-ricky-wilson-the-voice-interview

".. the singer felt it could be useful to promote their new album, Education, Education, Education & War. He liked the idea of being the first "indie" star – with all the attendant baggage around credibility and "selling out" – on a talent show.
"It's a game-changer, isn't it?" he says"

Education, Education, Education & War.

lol comedy album titles thought up ten years after they might have been a bit funny.

Next album, 'British Jobs for Britsh Shirkers' to follow in 2018.

Remix album 'Sexed-Up Dossier' drops 3067

Yet with time, even he became jaded. I recall a moment after their hometown show, at Elland Road stadium in Leeds in 2008. They'd invited their favourite bands to support them and played to a packed crowd wearing Kaiser Chiefs scarfs and stetson hats – most of them had turned up at midday and were making the bar staff earn their keep. Yet immediately after leaving the stage, Wilson was glum and fixated on why his band didn't get the critical respect of the Arctic Monkeys.

Oh the sadness of life.

Cian Ciaran of Super Furry Animals produced a couple tracks on one of their albums. I meant to check it out. Problem is this band sucks so I can't ever be bothered.

OMFG I WAS TRYING TO WORK OUT WHO TH E NEW DORK WAS ON THE VOICE

Fuck him, fuck his band and fuck the fact they're from Leeds (Where I'm from)

He liked the idea of being the first "indie" star – with all the attendant baggage around credibility and "selling out" – on a talent show.

"It's a game-changer, isn't it?" he says. "If I was the second person ever to have done it, I'd probably have said no."

Hahaha Preston from Ordinary Boys says hello.

What about now? I can't see Kaiser Chiefs having any more longevity than, say, Sleeper (as mentioned). The Killers might have a chance, but only because they've put the international hours in bigtime. The Bravery are the Menswear, only a thousand times worse. Bloc Party will blossom into something hugely exciting and quite weird by their third album - they're Radiohead, I guess. The Futureheads will spend the next five years trying to get away from that Kate Bush cover, while the similar but better looking Maximo Park steal a march on them. Razorlight's Johnny Borrell will become both Liam and Noel and write at least four more songs that'll last for 50 years. Carl Barat will carve out a lucrative solo career then start writing and producing for other people, while Pete D buggers off with La Moss to a remote island to write a brilliant but flawed novel.

And Art Brut will end up on TOTP, and the world will rejoice.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Thursday, April 21, 2005 1:51 PM (8 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

...and what actually did happen? :P

And Art Brut will end up on TOTP, and the world will rejoice.

This not happening is still a tragedy.

reality show != talent show tbfttl

i'm just impressed they managed to go lower than Danny O'Donoghue

So fucking happy it's not 2005 any more.

really hope he's as full of self-loathing as he seems to be

song titles on this are great

1. "The Factory Gates"
2. "Coming Home"
3. "Misery Company"
4. "Ruffians on Parade"
5. "Meanwhile Up in Heaven"
6. "One More Last Song"
7. "My Life"
8. "Bows & Arrows"
9. "Cannons"
10. "Roses"

in 2013 a man sat down and wrote a song called "ruffians on parade"

I'm very pleased to have upset Ricky Kaiser so much that he obliquely mentioned me in an interview.

he's just happy to be sat two chairs down from Kylie and if anybody else laughs at him that's a bonus

God you read that tracklist and you just know that in their heads they hear Springsteen doing Let England Shake and you realise quite how huge the gulf between aspiration and achievement actually is for these people.

that's what makes the forced surface jocularity more repulsive, the fact that you know they think they're using it to sugarcoat their IMPORTANT IDEAS

I hope they've been reading their Lanchester.

Had a conversation about them the other day re: their initial stated ambition to "get a mid-afternoon slot on the second stage at the Leeds festival" of whatever it was, and whether or not this was an actual initial aim that exploded for them, or whether they were arch manipulators who wrote anthemic drunk-idiot festival-pleasers as an exercise in satire, or whether they don't actually know what they're doing an are just chumps.

To give them credit, they were quite good at predictions.

voting C

Didn't someone try and run him over? (In my head, I always imagine this to have been one of Hood).

In all fairness and god's honest truth, this band were one of the "indie class of 2005" I actually didn't really mind so much. Sure, their albums were spotty and they were a bit of an ASDA Smart Price "Blur circa The Great Escape", but occasionally they came up with a song that I honestly didn't mind: 'I Predict A Riot', 'Oh My God', 'Love's Not A Competition (But I'm Winning)', 'You Want History' etc.

I'm just browsing through that list of bands above that CharlieNo4 posted back in 2005... The Killers? Always loathed them for some reason, they always felt a bit plastic to me. I recall hearing 'Mr. Brightside' and 'Somebody Told Me' more times than I could handle on various nights out in the '00s but that was nothing compared to how much I cringed when I heard 'Glamorous Indie Rock'n'Roll'. I think I managed to get through Hot Fuss at least once, but never consciously checked anything out that they did afterwards, and surprisingly found them very easy to avoid after that first single from their second LP came out.

The Bravery? Only ever heard that 'Honest Mistake' song, didn't check out any of their albums and found them incredibly easy to avoid.

Bloc Party? Loved Silent Alarm back then and still do. They didn't quite "blossom into something interesting" by the time of Intimacy, but they did go the "Radiohead route" in a way by grafting electronics onto their sound. I don't think anyone could have predicted the path that Kele would take with this solo career, though. It may be very unfashionable to like anything that Bloc Party did after Silent Alarm, but I still have a lot of time for their four albums, even if the albums did get spottier and they moved away from the sound that people initially latched onto.

The Futureheads/Maximo Park? Still have time for both, although both bands are undoubtedly cult concerns now.

Razorlight/The Libertines? Didn't like either of them.

good to know

Person in "posting opinions on a music forum" shocker.

Wonder what Peanut thinks of all this

and surprisingly found them very easy to avoid after that first single from their second LP came out

a while back I spoke to someone who was insistent that The Killers were the biggest most important band around, his world seems to have little connection to mine. But I'm pleased to have heard this song as a result, because now I know exactly what Bruce Springsteen sounds like to people who hate Bruce Springsteen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMbyWSGYUgc

Turrican otm. I was 15/16 around the time of their heyday and as part of the contemporary UK indie rock scene, they had a few singles which I'm still fond of, but they were never an "album" band and I've not consciously heard anything new by them. I still enjoy "Ruby" when it comes on the radio.

Out of all those bands mentioned (apart from Art Brut who I still love now as much as I did then) Maximo Park's debut is the only one I'd have time for now. Some great songs on there especially The Coast is Always Changing.

Don't know how anyone can say Bloc Party went down the experimental route and not mention The Futureheads did the same thing brave a capella album they did in 2012. Are we all pretending this never happened?

http://youtu.be/K0Uc1eunvBc

It might just be the worst thing ever recorded.

I listened awaiting the drop with grim fascination, it didn't disappoint.