It's out today and worth the 7 or 8 bucks it will cost.
The Kaiser Chiefs could be lazily lumped into the current BritRock or 80's wave of band coming out of the UK these. However, I think the record could have easily come in the early days of BritPop. Don't get me wrong there are 80's influence peeking through, but different from what others are mining.
At first the album didn't really grabbed me, but a couple more listening and it's drawing me in. I enjoy the bands sense of arrangement i.e. the "na na na na"'s and "la la la la"'s in the backing vocals, the subtle use of vintage synths, the fact that every song doesn't sound like the next. To borrow from another forumite, the band has cheek and attitude. It's not mad at the world just a little disappointed in it and themselves.
The record isn't perfect, it has the feel of being a collection of early singles and b-sides. But even the less consistent songs are better than most. I recommend it for people who enjoy catchy singalong choruses, it will make the a good summer cd. The albums overall attitude is snotty not overly serious.
On the Kos-mo-meter it gets an 8.0
I would definitely use it to DJ because it provides a variety of moods.
I will mostly likely want to check them out live regardless of who they are playing with.
For fans of Terry Hall, The Mood Elevator and Menswe@r.
