Song of The Day: 19/09/2011

Released today, Kasabian's Cretaceous new LP Velociraptor! offers up today's Song of The Day. 'Let's Roll Just Like We Used To' sees the band channeling Forever Changes era Love (specifically 'Alone Again Or') through Morricone brass sections. Enjoy...


Kasabian - Let's Roll Just Like We Used To

Keep on Keepin' on,

Baia

X

A Different Animal

Kasabian - Manchester Apollo 08/06/2011

With their Asylum dwelling days behind them, Kasabian have emerged bigger, better and highly evolved. The queue that snakes around the Manchester Apollo isn't the only reptile on show tonight, as within the confines of it's four walls, a Velociraptor lies in wait.

The bar and barrier areas quickly descended upon in quick succession, the anticipation, to quote Spinal Tap, is amped up to 11. Fresh faced 'it's our first gig' upstarts jockey for position with groupies, hippies, ravers and middle aged skinheads. Elbows jut out and ground is stood, but, within a minute of the lights going down it's all for nought.

'Club Foot' roars at the baying masses and suddenly it's 1977 and fists, feet and bodies are crashing into each other whether they like it or not. Lead guitarist, songwriter, and chief co-ordinator of this chaos Serge Pizzorno appears unaffected by the carnage in front of him as his leading man and maniac-in-arms Tom Meighan stalks the front of the stage, leading the audience a merry dance with the swagger of Roger Daltrey and aggression of Johnny Rotten.

West Ryder duo 'Where Did All The Love Go?' and 'Underdog' lead us not so quietly into the "punk fucking aggression" of the title track from the upcoming album Velociraptor!. While the chorus of "Velociraptor!/He's gonna find ya/He's gonna kill ya/He's gonna eat ya" may be a tad stone age, this two and a half minute punk stomper feels like a breath of fresh air in it's raw simplicity. The crowd lap it up and by the end are belting the chorus back at Meighan and co as if it had been a setlist mainstay for years.

Despite the Kinks' inspired breather of 'Thick as Thieves', the energy refuses to relent and by the time 'The Doberman' is unleashed, the Apollo resembles a warzone. Bodies are strewn left and right as Serge machine guns the first few rows with his Rickenbacker whilst Tom rocket launches his chants to the back of the room. The colossal rumbling of Ian Matthew's drums propels even more heavy artillery towards the crowd as Chris Edwards and Jay Mehler coolly patrol the flanks, armed to the teeth. The crowd respond with everything they've got as grenades of lager and cider rain down from the back and a few brave souls go over the top, only to be greeted by the frontline of security.

Vietnam turns sing-a-long however, with the opening bars of 'L.S.F'. Weapons are laid down and euphoria ensues. This proves to be a false down though, as Kasabian unleash the newest, heaviest weapon in their arsenal. Given it's grand unveiling on the airwaves the previous evening, 'Switchblade Smile' cannonballs the sell out crowd like the older, mutated brother of West Ryder anthem 'Vlad The Impaler'. In short, it sounds like The Prodigy having a jam session with Syd Barrett in the middle of the apocalypse. It's big, it's evil and it's a frightening sign of things to come.

A phenomenal rendition of 'Fire' brings the set to a monumental end as the three thousand blurry eyed revellers are cruelly greeted by the almost horizontal Manchester Monsoon upon departure. In March 2009, I wrote that Kasabian were ready to take their seat at Rock and Roll's top table. On tonight's evidence, they may just be eating there alone.

Baia

X

* Photos courtesy of Olivia Schaff

Checking into the Asylum

Kasabian
West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

Napoleon on lead vocals, a butcher priest on lead guitar and a lightbulb eating heretic slapping the bass. Sound like a lad rock band to you? No, I didn't think so either.

From THAT album cover alone, it is safe to assume that Kasabian's third album was never going to be a normal affair. Whilst the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Razorlight and The Kaiser Chiefs were resolutely sticking to their same old, same old routines, Sergio Pizzorno had locked himself away in a room in Leicester, dismantling instruments with The Pretty Things 'S.F Sorrow' running laps around his head.

It wasn't just instruments that Pizzorno wanted to dismantle either, it was the perception certain members of the media had of his band. "Primal Scream rip offs", "lad rock louts" and "Gallagher brother wannabe's" are just some of the labels that have been unwillingly tagged to Kasabian over the past five years. The swagger and cocksure self belief they exude from every pore in interviews has obviously failed to impress the more timid music journalists, who comfortably dismissed Kasabian as a hooligan's band without a second thought.

However, from the moment opener 'Underdog' rifles through the speakers in a swathe of Krautrock technicolour, it's obvious we're now dealing with a different animal. The opening track shows us a more mature Kasabian. It allows us to hear what 'Empire' could have sounded like had it's recording not been rushed and overshadowed by Chris Karloff's departure.

'West Ryder...' refuses to simply continue on in the same vain though. It evolves with each track. There's Eastern strings on 'Where did all the love go?' followed by Neu! inspired instrumental 'Swarfiga' and then the groovy punk rock of 'Fast Fuse'. All of which arrives within the first four songs. Indie rock third album 101 this ain't.

Pizzorno's decision to seek a second opinion on the album in the form of DJ Shadow and Gorillaz producer Dan 'The Automator' Nakamura has also proved to be an inspired one. Not so much for what he brought to the table, but rather what he took away from it. Layers have been stripped away, and in their place, Tom Meighan. Whereas 'Kasabian' and 'Empire' tended to rely on their crunching riffs and thundering basslines, 'West Ryder...' sees perhaps it's most maniacal inmate let loose for the first time.

The mesmerising instrumentals are still present, but are now refined so Meighan can flex his vocality to devastating effects. One minute he's ranting about being "Lucifer's child" on 'Fast Fuse', the next he's serenading Rosario Dawson with the line "Your beauty plays me just like a guitar string" on the magnificent 'West Ryder/Silver Bullet' before finally channeling his inner Jim Morrison on lead single 'Fire'.

This "soundtrack to an imaginary film" as Pizzorno has dubbed it, reaches it's pivotal scene just past the halfway point with the aforementioned 'West Ryder/Silver Bullet'. Tom is joined by Sin City actress Rosario Dawson as they morph into a 21st century Bonnie and Clyde, performing a star crossed duet against the backdrop of a Sergio Leone Western landscape. Ennio Morricone would be proud.

The final scene is brought to a heart warming crescendo with the Serge sung 'Happiness'. Written as a fresh faced 20 year old, it's an ode to better times ahead complemented by a gospel choir reminiscent of Elvis' Sun recordings. It's a fittingly happy ending to a modern day rock and roll blockbuster.

Rating: 5/5

By Joe Baiamonte

Kasabian Gig Review

Kasabian, Preston 53 Degrees, 24th March 2009

Back from San Francisco and with world domination in their sights, Kasabian are ready to take their seat at rock and roll’s top table.

Tonight may be a warm up gig for the Leicester five piece’s Teenage Cancer Trust jaunt at the Royal Albert Hall in three days time, but judging by the way they swagger one by one onto stage to unload new track ‘Underdog’ onto a baying sellout crowd, Kasabian look as if they’ve never been away. Frontman Tom Meighan looks especially warmed up as he occupies the stage with an almost Mick Jagger like frenetic energy.

The synth laden stomp of ‘Underdog’ then gives way to the unbridled power of ‘Shoot The Runner’, which causes nothing short of chaos amongst the the audience as Meighan acts as the ringleader to 1,500 followers, every one of them with their eyes firmly fixed on his Clockwork Orange demeanour as he surveys the audience as if surveying the land of a stately manor. Whereas on ‘Empire’ Kasabian cemented themselves as a force to be reckoned with, now they’re looking to take over.

If Meighan is the heartbeat of the band, the tall, brooding figure to his right is the brains. Lead guitarist and songwriter in chief, Sergio Pizzorno cuts an almost ominous presence on stage as the raw energy of his riffs thunder through ‘Reason is Treason’ and ‘Cutt Off’, leaving the crowd gasping for air before we’re treated to the bluesy psychedelia of ‘Fire’, the first single off the new, insanely titled ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’ album.

‘Processed Beats’ returns us to more common ground, with Serge even dropping some of Grandmaster Flash’s ‘The Message’ into the chorus for good measure. Then we reach The Kinks inspired ‘Thick as Thieves’, a rare acoustic moment which Tom tells us is “nice and warming… a bit like Bovril”. Whatever hot drink it may resemble, it’s sure to have the masses in Heaton Park singing along in unison this coming June.

The glam rock tirade of ‘Empire’ soon picks the tempo back up before another ‘West Ryder…’ newcomer takes charge. ‘Fast Fuse’ was released as a limited edition single in September 2007, before Columbia decided to put it back on the shelf. Not because of it’s inferior quality, but because it’s simply too good to shovel out. It’s rock and roll in it’s rawest, most passionate and dare I say, grooviest form as Meighan punches the air whilst chanting “I’m lucifer’s child, wild, acid done/black sunglasses shade the morning sun”. It acts as a cue for a tsunami of crowd surfers to engulf the security guards as the atmospheric slow burner ‘The Doberman’ sees the band out.

Not satisfied with that though, the quintet make their way back onstage and soar through ‘Club Foot’ and ‘Stuntman’, as everyone in attendance eagerly anticipates traditional set closer ‘L.S.F’. However, not one for predictability, Serge instead breaks into a rendition of The Source’s club classic ‘You Got The Love’ before segueing into the sing a long euphoria of ‘L.S.F’.

“Thank you Preston, you’ve been brilliant. It’s good to be back” declares Meighan triumphantly, and judging by the crowd’s continuation of L.S.F into the rainy Preston streets, they’re more than glad to have them back.

4 stars out of 5.

By Joe Baiamonte