Heads Will Roll
Kaiser Chiefs and Album Number Three
Kaiser Chiefs
Off With Their Heads
Released on Oct 28, 2008
Following the mediocre reception of their sophomore effort, Yours Truly, Angry Mob, Kaiser Chiefs have returned a year later with an album that is a bit of a return to the danceable sounds of their debut. Perhaps the pressure of having a quintuple platinum debut album (that’s five times for those keeping score) got to them, or maybe it gave them the confidence to switch things up a bit musically and lyrically, but whatever the case was…Yours Truly, Angry Mob was nowhere near as good as Employment. That is definitely one statement Kaiser Chiefs are looking to avoid with Off With Their Heads.
Right off the bat, Kaiser Chiefs make it very clear that they’re going for a much more upbeat sound than they did on their last album. “Spanish Metal” isn’t really a good barometer of the rest of the album, though. The vocals border on monotone and the arrangement of the track gives the impression that the vocals are coming from behind the rest of the band, which makes it the song a somewhat tedious listen. The sound immediately shifts going into the second track, which happens to be the album’s first single “Never Miss a Beat”.
Multiple sources state that Lily Allen provides backing vocals on the bass-driven single, but unless you are listening for her very closely, you won’t notice until your fourth or fifth time through that she jumps in for the final chorus. For a while, I honestly thought that Ms. Allen had the ability to make her voice sound exactly like a synth or something…kind of like Michael Winslow does with sound effects.
There is a certain something about the vocals on the majority of Off With Their Heads that I just can’t place. Perhaps it’s that they sound like if Morrissey, Duran Duran and Men Without Hats mutated into one person, or maybe it’s something else…definitely not a bad thing though. Lead singer Ricky Wilson’s voice is easy on the ears and fits in with the overall sound very naturally.
As a whole, Off With Their Heads is a good mixture of Brit-pop, new wave and early punk rock that will inspire dancing at almost every turn. However, there are a handful of tracks that sound quite a bit alike. Unfortunately, these tracks are the most entertaining of the entire album. For the most part, though, it’s not enough to drag the whole product down.
High Point
“Like It Too Much” has a steady, driving beat that will get stuck in your head…in a good way.
Low Point
“Spanish Metal” doesn’t fit in with the whole and almost seems like a carry over from a different album.
Posted by Cory Roop on Oct 30, 2008 @ 9:00 pm