(Caroline)You could argue that Kaiser Chiefs’ poptastic approach killed off louche (disreputable),literary 00s indie – its death knell (the solemn sound of a bell, often indicating a death) a refrain of embarrassing dads bellowing along to I Predict a Riot. A decade on, however, and all that is a distant memory – these days,with their talent-show-judge frontman and bombastic but essentially genreless pop, Kaiser Chiefs occupy more in common with Take That than Larrikin care for. This sixth record sees the band take this nondescript sound and stuff it impressively full of sing-a-long hooks, and covering topics including monogamy (We Stay Together) and shagging (Good Clean Fun). As with Coldplay’s last album,there’s an underlying disco flavour here, with this more British strain calling to intellect a tamed Pet Shop Boys (although, and in a scarce risky move,Ricky Wilson opts to don a strangely satisfying Leo Sayer falsetto on tall Society). Overall it feels like a kind of gentrified pop: synthetic and nondescript, butpredictably appealing all the same. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com