Colombia, released 8/6/2009.

Oasis had to be good for something.  Increasingly that thing is Kasabian.  It’s funny how swagger, despite being one of the defining characteristics of rock and roll music since initiation, has become the prized possession of the mid nineties Britpop behemoths and must be acknowledged to avoid the paying of “Bittersweet Symphony” style royalties.  Probably because their name has become a short hand for the kind of swagger that can turn a flashing moment of brilliance into a 15 year career.

Kasabian may have inherited the mantle of swaggering kings, music for the thinking football fan, and there are moments of such confidence here in the form of  first single “Fire” and opener, “Underdog”, the later’s fuzzy riff and groovy refrain sounding as at home in an indie club as it does on an advert.  Indisputably good (if straightforward) stuff.  Everything else, though, is as full of personality and curiosity as the internally wallpapered, fancy-dressed limited edition of the album itself.  “Swafiga” is a pulsing instrumental that sounds a bit like it could be soundtracking a scene from The Mighty Boosh, “West Ryder Silver Bullet” starts as a slow-burning zone out complete with strange accented spoken word intro nonsense before revealing a bold, stop-motion chorus and simple ditty “Thick As Thieves” is somehow a tiny bit more interesting than the plodding faux-Kinks it could be.

So much more than swagger, then, mostly thanks to the very creative mind of band leader Serge Pizzorno and the many voices of one of the best front men around at the moment, Tom Meighan.  I would suggest that it may help not to think too deeply about what is on offer here, as in-depth analysis could make it all fall apart under the weight of its conscious individuality.  But this is somehow appropriate for an album named after a lunatic asylum.  Don’t judge, just let it be.  On this score Kasabian have delivered.

Posted In Album Reviews, Jun 15 2009. Words - Martin