True Brit: Are Kasabian the Best Band in Britain?
Kasabian: Perhaps the best band Britain has to offer?
Everyone knows my views on prize-giving ceremonies but even I couldn’t help being pleasantly surprised to see Kasabian scoop best album at this year’s NME Awards for their extraordinary third LP West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. A huge creative leap from the leaden glam-rock of 2006’s sophomore effort Empire, it’s a staggering blast of the very finest Britrock.
From the opening salvo of lead track “Happiness,” West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum is an unrelenting barrage of white hot indie-dance that draws inspiration from all ends of the UK’s diverse rock pantheon. From the Deep Purple-esque hard-rock of “Fast Fuse” to the swirling Primal Scream-drenched balladry of “Happiness,” it’s one of the most exciting records I’ve heard in years.
From humble origins in the pubs and clubs of Leicestershire, Kasabian have confidently manoeuvred into position at the very top of the Britain’s rock ‘n’ roll tree. Filling the void left by Oasis when the band unceremoniously imploded amid a flurry of backstage fisticuffs, Kasabian are all but as the Gallagher brothers’ true successors.
In Tom Meighan Kasabian possess one of the most charismatic front men since Liam in his mid-nineties pomp and in guitarist Serge Pizzorno a creative driving force of immeasurable talent. With their fingers firmly pressed against the country’s cultural pulse the band are on the cusp of genuine greatness. Let’s hope they make it. It’ll be thoroughly deserved.
Original image by wonker.
