Kaiser Chiefs - Employment
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Artist: Kaiser ChiefsBrand: Baker & Taylor
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2005-03-15
Music Label: Umvd Labels
Soundtracks:
- Everyday I Love You Less and Less
- I Predict A Riot
- Modern Way
- Na Na Na Na Naa
- You Can Have It All
- Oh My God
- Born To Be A Dancer
- Saturday Night
- What Did I Ever Give You
- Time Honoured Tradition
- Caroline, Yes
- Team Mate
Free Music Notes for Employment
Free Music Review: The best new band of 2005
Hit: 5 Stars
I'll be very, very honest. I don't like this new-wave revival that is being led by bands such as The Killers, The Postal Service, The Bravery, Franz Ferdinand, and the like. I strongly prefer bands that have more of a focus on amazing guitar work and lyrics that are meaningful or poetic; that make you think. Some of my favorite bands are NIRVANA, Mudhoney, Foo Fighters, PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth, and the Pixies, legendary bands of the past that have nothing to do with these current groups.
With that said, this album is fun, makes me want to get up and do the jig right now, start yelling "my parents love me!" out loud with the windows rolled down and track 1 blasting at full volume while driving, and start going to school dressed in striped clip on ties, tight jeans, and short sleeved dress shirts, complete with my nifty bowler hat. I'm dead serious.
So what is it about this album that makes me want to do all of the above? Well, let's see.
You begin the trip at home, deciding to leave what's been slowly boring you to death with the first track, attacking you with killer synths at the beginning, and then setting the tone with the song's title, "Everyday I love you less and less," being the first lyrical content you get courtesy of the frontman, Ricky Wilson. Shaken and jarred by what he sees around him in the world today, he decides to go on a tongue-in-cheek trip characterized by his detachment from any situations that may keep him down and his hilarious sense of irony that seems to hit you at all the right times. Like I said, this is the first time that I've wanted to sing along with something as utterly foolish as "My parents love me!!!"
The trip begins with "I Predict a Riot," and this is the band's first big single, video in tow. This is the first chance Ricky (and the rest of his bandmates) have a chance to show off their vocal range, and we get to also hear the rough guitar playing of Andrew "Whitey" White, who manages to seamlessly blend his riffs in with the keyboard work of Nick "Peanut" Baines. It's also the first (and not the last) time we see the band's awareness of social issues; Ricky and his writing partner in crime, drummer Nick Hodgson, seem to grasp the air of everyone's-got-something-they're-worried-about and basically kick this attitude to the curb, essentially declaring that everyone should strike back against the forces that make people become tense, stressed busybodies and just live their lives to the fullest.
"Modern Way" continues the lyrical dominance, and this time, it's not entirely obvious what they're talking about, but my guess is that the song is about how at first, when the band started, they vowed to never sell out and become total rock stars, but now that they've become famous and have gotten this record deal, they have no choice, "faking it every day," "taking it as it comes." Peanut blesses the listener with a quirky keyboard track, while Ricky even contributes with a cowbell performance to go along with his vocals. Whitey's guitar work improves upon his work in the last two songs, and for the first time I can hear bassist Simon Rix's (notoriously loved for his shaggy/curly/huge head of hair) nifty basslines. This is definitely the most mature (and my favorite!) song on the album, not as "jump-up-and-down" as the last two but still upbeat.
Now that the band has gotten famous, they have to undoubtedly deal with the issue of groupies. "Na Na Na Na Na" is another lyrically mysterious song, but this is probably the most upbeat track on the entire album, and definitely the one that will make you get up and move something. By throwing the pianos in there Peanut adds what can be best described as a little dance-bluesy flavor to the song. The first time I saw them live, they opened their set with this song and tore the roof down (most people there had heard of the band, whereas that was my first time hearing of them or hearing their music). The next time I saw them live, Ricky forced the crowd that was waiting for Foo Fighters and Weezer to get into it by literally entering the crowd and using my shoulders as his support--naturally, I was willing to oblige :)
After sifting through groupie after groupie, something real is finally found, only to have it end up being pointless because fame will never allow it to materialize. The first truly "soft" song on the record comes to us the way of "You Can Have It All," and Wilson and Hodgson put aside the irony for a moment and focus on a cute yet creative love song, singing "You can have it all if that's all right," as if they need to ask their significant other's permission to have it all. I'm sure she'd be touched by their concern that it might not be all right for her. But it also veers off into discussing what ends up looking like a relationship that was lost due to outside forces, probably fame. This appears to be quite a theme in the mature songs, losing the essence of your person thanks to success. Again, we see more piano work from Peanut here and less blaring guitar from Whitey. In fact I've heard some fans call this a Beatles-esque performance, and it certainly seems that way to me, with Ricky giving a Lennon-esque performance on the vocals.
The band goes overseas and takes their act to a new audience, putting the past behind. "Oh My God" is probably my second-favorite song on the album, though it was probably the first song of theirs I liked. Ricky has said in an NME interview that this song is quite simply about "being in a band," as evidenced by the touring reference "never been this far away from home." Essentially, being in the band has allowed him to escape the drudgery of daily life, and he urges others to do the same in whatever way they can. Simon puts in an especially memorable performance on the bass during the buildup to the chorus.
The groupie love continues, only this time in the US. "Born To Be A Dancer" is another lyrically interesting song that discusses a first-time sexual experience gone wrong, judging from the common British adage "lay back and think of England," which is used when a girl has sex for the first time, but here can also refer to being out of the country and "touring" to keep with the "storyline" that has been evident. The musical highlight in this song is Whitey's solo, which follows the vocal melody but then diverts into its own little thing, which really allows him to show off his skill.
Drugs, party life, galore as they continue to tour. Indulgence in sin becomes even greater as we reach "Saturday Night," where the band pays homage to old-new-wave idols with lines such as "I wanna be like those guys/I wanna wear my clothes tight." If they release this song as a single, it will be declared the "feel good anthem of the year" and other assorted things, while those doing this declaring will not realize why this might be best left simply on the album, unless they notice the casual reference to creosote, a drug, and pneumothorax, a lung condition indirectly caused by over smoking marijuana. Ricky almost sounds as if he's rapping the verses in this one, but the chorus is irresistible, possibly the catchiest hook on the entire album.
Finally, something happens while on tour, and the group comes to their senses, as we reach "Time Honoured Tradition," essentially a song about staying healthy and "staying alive until you die." I particularly like the shifts in tempo/rhythm between the verse and chorus, which almost seem like parts of different songs that somehow meld together beautifully.
The journey is made back home, and as they arrive, with "Caroline, Yes" they find out someone has swooped up the girl that they got tired of (and now want again) in "Everyday I Love You Less and Less," so essentially this song is dedicated to the jerk who stole her while they were gone. Essentially, instead of putting the blame on the girl, this song takes a different approach and focuses on the guy who stepped in for a change, with some interesting lines like "watch your back because revenge is sweet." We are also treated to another blistering solo from Whitey, who follows the slow pace of this song; in fact, this is easily the slowest song on the entire album but it can also be considered the "grungiest" and "edgiest," which really does a lot to showcase the range of this band.
Finally, in "Team Mate," the band comes full circle from the first track, running back to the girl they had thought they were sick of, with lines like "We used to go out nightly." There are also maracas featured in this song, as well as some other quirky electronic sounds that separate this one and put it in a class with "You Can Have It All" as the "other' soft song on the album. By using "team mate" they also pay homage to their love of football/soccer and their band name in general, culled from the South African team.
So there you have it. Overall, I'd have to say, because of the "story" that you hopefully see through my review that the band skillfully constructed, as well as the variety and unique sound in the music, and last but definitely not least, the stellar and mature and MEANINGFUL vocals and lyrics from Ricky and Nick, I'd say hands down this album (and the band) will still be relevant and around long after nu-wave-revivalist groups such as the Killers and Franz Ferdinand will have passed on.
I'd also strongly recommend seeing them live, I saw them first at the Lollapalooza festival, and then when they opened for the Foos and Weezer. The next time I see them I hope they are able to headline their own show. These guys really know how to serve the audience and do some crazy stuff in addition to performing even superior versions live of their studio recorded songs. In the meantime, while you're waiting for them to come to your city, buy this album so you can sing along at the show.
Employment Poster
Sometimes the greatest success stories sprout from the tiniest of ambitions. When Kaiser Chiefs formed up in Leeds around the summer of 2003, their aim wasn't to conquer stadiums and change the world. Instead, these five Britpop-obsessed oddballs began plotting a rather more modest plan. In the shadowy corners of clubs and venues across the city Ricky Wilson (lead vocals, owner of stylish blue and orange suit), Andrew 'Whitey' White (guitar), Simon Rix (bass), Nick 'Peanut' Baines (keyboards and modeller of impressive pork-pie hats) and Nick Hodgson (drums and vocals) decided to form a band that would harness the awesome capability of being able to blag an early slot at the following year's Leeds Festival.The Kaisers' story actually begins some time before they'd decided to name themselves after a successful South African football team. School friends Simon, Peanut and Nick had been playing together in various bands since the age of 15 before spying art school graduate and restless-ball-of-energy Ricky singing with a Rolling Stones tribute band.
Right now, everybody wants a piece of the Kaiser Chiefs. Blur producer Stephen Street was so bowled over he offered his services for debut album Employment. A barrage of bouncing art-pop brilliance, it's scheduled to soundtrack 2005 from the minute it hits stereos this March.
Is it too early for a Britpop revival? Not on the watch of Leeds quintet Kaiser Chiefs, who just a decade after the release of Blur's scene-making 1994 album, Parklife, offer a striking follow-up. They've hired the same producer--Stephen Street. They've studied the same influences--the Buzzcocks, the Jam, the Kinks. They've even picked up the same English slice-of-life themes--"I wanna wear my clothes tight/Matching jackets and a fistful of notes/New sneakers and a fresh pack of smokes," goes "Saturday Night." The resulting album, Employment, is just as catchy and captivating as you might expect, swinging from the stormy social commentary of "I Predict A Riot" to the shouty insouciance of "Oh My God." A Trainspotting sequel can't be far off. --Aidin Vaziri
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