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Rating:
The Kaiser Chiefs reach the critical third test with this "Off With Their Heads."
Various and interesting collaborations for this new studio effort: from Lily Allen (on backing vocals for the hit singles "Never Miss A Beat" and "Always Happens Like That") to the New Young Pony Club, from rapper Sway DaSafo to the great David Arnold.
The album arrives just a year and a half after the previous (and good) "The Angry Mob," marking an important step in the still very young career of the English band, which, on this occasion, plays it safe by choosing a top-notch producer like Mark Ronson (assisted by Eliot James) and launching the album with a catchy hit like the aforementioned "Never Miss A Beat," wonderfully rhythmic and fun.
The good impressions aroused by the single are confirmed with the full listening of the album: after a slightly more "heavy" interlude in terms of sounds and melodic lines like "The Angry Mob" (in which the band still showed decent writing quality), the Chiefs brilliantly demonstrate that they've recaptured the verve that had so impressed in their excellent debut "Employment." The opening "Spanish Metal" (vaguely "mouser-like") shakes and vibrates wonderfully, "Like It Too Much" (enriched by strings) recovers the playful and sly atmospheres of their first work. "You Want History" is all about dancing, and here Ronson really (and pleasantly) lays it on thick.
As always, there are numerous potential hit singles (the new "Good Days Bad Days," which exudes a rather pleasant funk-flavour, but also the wild "Half The Truth"), along with some nice tributes to certain '90s British sounds ("Tomato In The Rain," "Remember You're A Girl," and "Always Happens Like That," the latter with a nice Graham Coxon-style solo). "Addicted To Drugs," on the other hand, starts off great but then loses its way a bit too much.
In conclusion, the Kaiser Chiefs also convince with the third test and are on their way to securing a nice and solid position in the British music scene.
Oh yes, they never miss a beat.
Key Tracks: "Spanish Metal," "Never Miss A Beat," "Like It Too Much," "Half The Truth"
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Never Miss a Beat (03:08)
What did you learn today,
I learned nothing
What did you do today,
I did nothing
What did you learn at school,
I didn't go-o
Why didn't you go to school,
I don't know
It's cool, to know nothing
It's cool, to know nothing
Television's on the blink,
There's nothing on it
I really wanna really big coat,
With words on it
What do you want for tea,
I want crisps
Why don't you join the team,
I just didn't
It's cool, to know nothing
It's cool, to know nothing
Take a look, take a look,
take a look at the kids on the street
No they never miss a beat,
no they never miss a beat,
never miss a beat
Never miss a beat beat, beat beat
Take a look at the kids on the street,
No they never miss a beat,
no they never miss a beat,
never miss a beat,
Never miss a, never miss a beat,
never miss a beat
Here comes the referee,
The light's flashin'
Best bit of the day,
Now that's living
Why don't you run away,
Are you kidding
What is the golden rule,
You say nothing
It's cool, to know nothing
It's cool, to know nothing
Take a look, take a look,
take a look at the kids on the street
No they never miss a beat,
no they never miss a beat,
never miss a beat
Never miss a beat beat, beat beat
Take a look at the kids on the street,
No they never miss a beat,
no they never miss a beat,
never miss a beat,
Never miss a, never miss a beat,
never miss a beat
04 You Want History (03:46)
Yesterday you lay awake on your bed
And worked out you'd done everything that you said
That you'd do before you got to this age
The lord of the bored and a slave to the beige
It's a mystery
It's a mystery
You want some history
It's a mystery
So last night you got up and out of this room
The ceiling is peeling and covered in gloom
But jaguar shoes is a place you can stare
A procession of lessons in what not to wear
It's a mystery
It's a mystery
You want history
It's a mystery
Today as you shake off the drunken debris
All that is left is the vague memory
Of down in the grout of a night on the tiles
It's hard to remember but totally worthwhile
It's a mystery
It's a mystery
You want some history
It's a mystery
It's a waste of money you have to admit
If it's a waste of money you have to have it
It's a waste of brains but hard to resist
If you wanted mystery you've blown it
It's a waste of money you have to admit
If it's a waste of money you have to have it
It's a waste of brain cells hard to resist
If you wanted history you missed it
If the girls start moving the boys will start moving
If the girls start moving the boys will join in
If the girls start moving the boys will start moving
If the girls start moving the boys will join in
If the girls start moving the boys will start moving
If the girls start moving the boys will join in
If the girls start moving the boys will start moving
If the girls start moving the boys will join in
oh oh oh-oh-oh oh oh oh
05 Can't Say What I Mean (02:49)
Nothing I say's so important
That it can't be shortened to fit on a badge
I wish that I could be contrite
And deliver her sound bites, but here is the catch
Everybody applauds her
From the lord to the hoards and a nation is swept
By her one to one conversations
In adult education I would tell her except
Can't say you're unattractive
But I'm out of practice at this sort of thing
It's not like I'm talking Italian
Or I wear a medallion and a sovereign ring
Great things can be expressed
In fifteen words or less and pinned onto your heart
Words just don't do it justice
The world and it's crust is still drifting apart
Can't say what I mean
Do you know when you go I get all tongue-tied
I'm the same all again back when you arrive
What a face
What a face
Can you blame me for pulling a face?
What a waste
What a face
06 Good Days Bad Days (02:53)
Follow the underdog
Hold on his collar tight
This city loves a scrap
One day it's gonna fight
Sticks and stones and animal bones
Can't stop me from having a good day
On a bad day
There's good days and bad days
Making a night of it
Breaking the barriers
Drowning the sorrows
Upset the regulars
Sticks and stones and animal bones
Can't stop me from getting away with
Good days and bad days
There's good days and bad days
Sticks and stones and animal bones
Sticks and stones and animal bones
There's good days and bad days
There's good days and bad days
If you had a different attitude
Instead of taking taking to
You have missed an opportunity
And that's a really big mistake
If you had a different attitude
You'd still have good days and bad days
10 Addicted to Drugs (03:53)
Woahhhh
Yeahhhhh
Woahhhh
Getting married in the morning
It's hardly peaches and cream
We haven't got a lot in common
Except the daily routine
Nothing on the Television
Just the dust on the screen
So, come on lets get together
Why don't we join a team?
You might as well face it you're addicted to drugs
You might as well face it your addicted...
You might as well face it you're addicted to drugs
You might as well face it your addicted...
Woahhhh
Yeahhhhh
Woahhhh
Greatest poet of the sixth form
Turned out to be a fraud
Man you got a lot of buddies
How do you remember them all?
You might as well face it you're addicted to drugs
You might as well face it you're addicted...
You might as well face it you're addicted to drugs
You might as well face it you're addicted...
You might as well face it you're addicted to drugs
You might as well face it you're addicted...
You might as well face it you're addicted to drugs
You might as well face it you're addicted...
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Other reviews
By salv
This time, however, the approach is different: the album is not as immediate as the previous two but requires more listens to be appreciated.
"Spanish Metal" presents an atypical structure, not having a chorus for the first time, but it constitutes the ideal intro.
By temi
It’s a breath of fresh air, containing very fresh sounds following those of the somewhat heavy ‘Yours Truly Angry Mob.’
The Kaiser Chiefs aren’t Blur, but they imitate them terribly well… I therefore recommend this album to those looking for a new ‘Parklife’ or ‘The Great Escape.’
