Kasabian - "Kasabian"
(RCA, 2005) - * * * *
Kasabian - "Kasabian" (RCA, 2005) * * * *
I picked up Kasabian's debut album on RCA knowing nothing abuot the band. While listening to the album for the first time, I scrolled through numerous articles about the band and their musical background, and kept coming back to one fork in the road: in the UK, this band is respected; in the US, and in the pages of Rolling Stone in particular, the band is reviled.
I had to wonder why, considering the first four tracks on the album were among the catchiest I'd heard since going through an electronica phase in high school. You should forget anything you've read about about Kasabian's self-titled album until you get a chance to hear the album. Ignore the Brits, ignore RS's Barry Walters. Even ignore me, if you think I'm going to get in the way of your finding out for yourself whether this album works. Then you can come back and see if you agree with me.
Okay, if you're still reading, I'll assume you've heard the album. If not, may God have mercy on your soul. Because if you brush this group off as self-indulgent or creatively challenged, you're going to miss out on the electro-dance rock since the Chemical Brothers' album "Dig Your Own Hole". This group brings a massive set of influences to a rolling boil, everything from Modest Mouse to the Stone Roses, or from Happy Mondays to Primal Scream.
Sure, you could get hung up on the fact that the band has gone to some trouble to create a mystique. Just their name alone conjures up references to Charles Manson and his getaway driver who also bore the name. But put that aside, that and their heavy-handed politics, and get down to what is important (and this deserves 48-point type):
THE BEAT.
That’s right. Put this album in your stereo, plug in some headphones, crank up the volume and try not to groove to tracks like "Processed Beats", "Reason Is Treason" or "Lost Souls Forever". I couldn't even last that long; I was dancing around the second floor of my apartment in the middle of the opening track, "Club Foot", with the speakers screaming: "I tell you I want you / I'll tell you I need you / I … the blood ain't on my face / Just wanted you near me!" Don't ask me why, or even what the hell they're talking about. All I know is that the beat took control and I knew I'd found a band I could get behind.
Sometimes that's all you need. It's hard for me to say, as I'm a lyric man myself. But if you get a hand on a copy of "Kasabian" and can get past their politics and all the conflicting commentary you'll read about them, and just focus on the music, you'll be fine. And you'll be able to appreciate what should be called the first great album of 2005.
Kasabian - "Kasabian" (RCA, 2005) * * * *
I picked up Kasabian's debut album on RCA knowing nothing abuot the band. While listening to the album for the first time, I scrolled through numerous articles about the band and their musical background, and kept coming back to one fork in the road: in the UK, this band is respected; in the US, and in the pages of Rolling Stone in particular, the band is reviled.
I had to wonder why, considering the first four tracks on the album were among the catchiest I'd heard since going through an electronica phase in high school. You should forget anything you've read about about Kasabian's self-titled album until you get a chance to hear the album. Ignore the Brits, ignore RS's Barry Walters. Even ignore me, if you think I'm going to get in the way of your finding out for yourself whether this album works. Then you can come back and see if you agree with me.
Okay, if you're still reading, I'll assume you've heard the album. If not, may God have mercy on your soul. Because if you brush this group off as self-indulgent or creatively challenged, you're going to miss out on the electro-dance rock since the Chemical Brothers' album "Dig Your Own Hole". This group brings a massive set of influences to a rolling boil, everything from Modest Mouse to the Stone Roses, or from Happy Mondays to Primal Scream.
Sure, you could get hung up on the fact that the band has gone to some trouble to create a mystique. Just their name alone conjures up references to Charles Manson and his getaway driver who also bore the name. But put that aside, that and their heavy-handed politics, and get down to what is important (and this deserves 48-point type):
THE BEAT.
That’s right. Put this album in your stereo, plug in some headphones, crank up the volume and try not to groove to tracks like "Processed Beats", "Reason Is Treason" or "Lost Souls Forever". I couldn't even last that long; I was dancing around the second floor of my apartment in the middle of the opening track, "Club Foot", with the speakers screaming: "I tell you I want you / I'll tell you I need you / I … the blood ain't on my face / Just wanted you near me!" Don't ask me why, or even what the hell they're talking about. All I know is that the beat took control and I knew I'd found a band I could get behind.
Sometimes that's all you need. It's hard for me to say, as I'm a lyric man myself. But if you get a hand on a copy of "Kasabian" and can get past their politics and all the conflicting commentary you'll read about them, and just focus on the music, you'll be fine. And you'll be able to appreciate what should be called the first great album of 2005.
posted by Jonathan Sanders @ 8:05 AM
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