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When Tears for Fears sang "Kick out the Style/Bring back the Jam" in "Sowing
the Seeds of Love," one can imagine the lads in Kaiser Chiefs raising their
mugs of ale in agreement. Comprised of vocalist Ricky Wilson, guitarist Andrew
White, bassist Simon Rix, keyboardist Nick Baines, and drummer Nick
Hodgson, Kaiser Chiefs resurrected the mod spirit of the Jam in "I Predict a
Riot," supercharged class-of-1977 power pop that quickly electrified the British
press when it was released in 2004. The song was inspired by Wilson's days
as a club DJ in Leeds, England, where the group was also formed. The single
and Kaiser Chiefs' pogo-inducing, boot-stomping live performances had them
pegged as rising stars in the neo-new wave revolution with Franz Ferdinand,
Dogs Die in Hot Cars, and the Futureheads. When Kaiser Chiefs' first 7", "Oh
My God," reached number 66 on the U.K. charts -- a startling achievement for
an unsigned band -- doors opened for the group to share the stage with larger
acts, consequently grabbing the attention of A&R scouts who wanted to sign
them. "I Predict a Riot," on the other hand, reeled in U.S. modern rock radio
programmers caught in a blooming new wave revival. Without an American
label deal, Kaiser Chiefs (named after the South African football team) crashlanded
on some of the biggest U.S. alternative stations with the "I Predict a
Riot" import single in late 2004. That same year they recorded their debut
album, Employment, for the U.K. label B-Unique. The album was released
domestically in the U.S. in spring 2005. The group's follow-up, Yours Truly,
Angry Mob, arrived in the spring of 2007, with Off with Their Heads arriving a
year later.


  01. (03:38) - Everyday I Love You Less And Less
  02. (03:53) - I Predict A Riot
  03. (04:04) - Modern Way
  04. (03:01) - Na Na Na Na Naa
  05. (04:36) - You Can Have It All
  06. (03:35) - Oh My God
  07. (03:31) - Born To Be A Dancer
  08. (03:28) - Saturday Night
  09. (04:09) - What Did I Ever Give You?
  10. (02:45) - Time Honoured Tradition
  11. (04:13) - Caroline, Yes
  12. (03:24) - Team Mate


Playing Time.........: 00:44:17
Total Size...........: 313.82 MB

 
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Inspired by that moment sometime in the late '70s when punk gave birth to new
wave (and looked back to the heyday of '60s mod for inspiration), the Kaiser
Chiefs' debut, Employment, expands on the sharp, sussed sound of their
singles in surprising ways. A look at London life and its discontents,
Employment is a remarkably ambitious debut album that aspires, right down to
its cheeky liner notes and graphics, to be the Parklife or All Mod Cons of the
2000s. While it doesn't quite reach those heights, it does have its fair share of
memorable songs. Chief among them is the one-two punch of "Everyday I Love
You Less and Less," a tightly wound "get lost" song that seamlessly mixes the
band's punky guitar-bass-drums attack with synths and drum machines, and
their signature single, "I Predict a Riot," another prime example of the band's
barbed, pissed-off pop. "Saturday Night" is another standout; with its brassy
stomp and lyrics like "watching the boys on their motorbikes/I want to be like
those guys," it's a Quadrophenia-like understanding of what it is to be lonely in
a crowd. On songs like moody-yet-stylish "Modern Way" and the cheeky,
contradictory "Na Na Na Naa," the Kaiser Chiefs sound so effortlessly "on" that
it's something of a surprise when Employment begins to lose momentum.
Despite its pretty '60s pop melody, "You Can Have It All" drags a bit, while the
vaudeville-tinged "Time Honoured Tradition" and "Born to Be a Dancer" are too
precious and theatrical for their own good. Although it's not among their best
songs musically, and its Beach Boys piss-take title is a little annoying,
"Caroline, Yes" is one of the Kaiser Chiefs' more interesting bits of songwriting
on the surface, the narrator is upset because the other guy took Caroline away
from him, but what really gets him is that the other guy is "everything I want to
be in my life." Likewise, Employment ends with "Team Mate," a tantalizingly
short character sketch that is also the band's best ballad. The Kaiser Chiefs'
ambition is a double-edged sword: it's admirable that they wanted to branch out
in so many directions on their first full-length, but it might have been a better
or safer, at least -- move to stick to the amazing rockers that made their name
in the first place. Employment is an uneven but still very promising debut that
suggests that one day the Kaiser Chiefs will pull off something even more
ambitious. [The bonus CD version features six live tracks.]


  01. (02:48) - Hard Times Send Me [live]
  02. (03:56) - Modern Way [live]
  03. (04:01) - I Predict A Riot [live]
  04. (03:14) - Time Honoured Tradition [live]
  05. (03:09) - Na Na Na Na Naa [live]
  06. (03:41) - Oh My God [live]


Playing Time.........: 00:20:49
Total Size...........: 152.44 MB



All tracks accurately ripped

No errors occurred

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