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| SOUND CHECK: KASABIAN |
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| Written by tdouglas woomble |
| Wednesday, 24 June 2009 15:38 |
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By tdouglas-woomble
Relax, traditionalists. The title, taken from a 19th-century mental institution in Yorkshire, is the most eccentric thing about the new disc. Sure, there’s an instrumental that splits the difference between Floyd and the Doors. There are also a few peculiar, random moments, such as a duet with actress Rosario Dawson. (?) But all in all, W.R.P.L.A. is satisfyingly Kasabian-like and abundant with accessible hooks, with just enough new touches to keep from being a re-tread of the first two efforts.
That instrumental, “Swarfiga,” takes listeners on a brief, drony detour before the group roars back with the album’s most scorching number, “Fast Fuse,” a shimmy-inducing slice of ‘60s go-go rock. The song’s born-to-be-wild lyrics are laughably simple, but will your hips mind? I think not. The energy ebbs a couple more times, on the woozy, Middle Eastern-flavored “Secret Alphabets” and the plodding “West Ryder Silver Bullet,” featuring guest vocals by Dawson. (She neither amazes nor embarrasses herself.) Ultimately, though, the scales tip in favour of primal rockers such as “Vlad the Impaler” and the sultry single “Fire,” which crackles with heat despite the well-worn “lust = combustion” theme.
As usual with these guys, profundity and subtlety are in short supply. “Do I really care? My joint’s still lit,” Meighan sings on “Ladies and Gentlemen, Roll the Dice,” neatly encapsulating the Kasabian worldview. Their meat-and-potatoes approach clearly isn’t for everyone—music scribes don’t dub them “lad rock” for nothing. Yet it’s precisely this adherence to rock and roll basics that has won them a huge following in their home country, where they regularly pack arenas with gaga lads... and a few like-minded lasses. W.R.P.L.A. may serve up a few twists, but in the end the boys don’t mess with the tried-and-true too much. Despite what they’ve named their album, they ain’t crazy. |
| Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 September 2009 23:39 |
KASABIAN: KRAZY FOR KASABIAN
Kasabian
“Underdog” kicks off the album on a reassuring note. A fuzzed-out riff by guitarist Sergio Pizzorno ushers in a loping groove that recalls the ecstasy-fuelled heights of the “Madchester” rave scene of the early ‘90s. “Keep myself riding on this train,” singer Tom Meighan drawls, and for a time the sound is right on track. “Where Did All The Love Go?” keeps the party chugging along with an insistent beat that guarantees a packed dance floor even as the lyrics lament the harshness of modern life and the wayward path of those damn kids today. (“The rivers of the pavement are flowing now with blood/The children of the future are drowning in the flood.”)
