Kasabian
West Rider Pauper Lunatic Asylum

We last left them amidst dust and glory, after the first excellent album "Kasabian" and the second "Empire," which was positive but somewhat indecisive for the band, and now we find them again with this third chapter released on June 8, 2009.

We are talking about the rock band from Leicester, Kasabian, led by the electrifying duo Tom Meighan-Serge Pizzorno. Their new album, starting with the title, is quite an agenda: "West Rider Pauper Lunatic Asylum", inspired by a mythical asylum from the 60s... Never has a title been more fitting for an album that transports the listener's mind on a psychedelic rock journey of pure quality.

The opening track "Underdog" is simply the epitome of Kasabian's music, an electro-rock piece that charges like few others, with a hypnotic and edgy riff, a track that best represents modern rock of 2009.

Another great moment is the second track "Where Did All The Love Go?", a very rhythmic piece with even vaguely dance contours, but steeped in a damn sixties and psychedelic sound.

The third track of the album is the instrumental "Swarfiga", a very fast and compulsive piece that harks back to the electronic sounds of the early Kasabian, which then leads us to the delirious "Fast Fuse", a very tight rock piece (Tom's voice is fantastic) that would gain approval even from rock's sacred monsters like The Who.

With the skip of our player, we move to "Take Aim", a real gem by the group's guitarist and lyricist Serge Pizzorno, a track with Morricone-like sounds, with an engaging and relentless chorus.

Another excellent passage is "Thick As Thieves", a ballad deeply inspired by the immortal sound of The Kinks, followed by the equally unique "West Rider/Silver Bullet", a track loaded with mysterious atmospheres featuring backing vocals collaboration from Hollywood actress Rosario Dawson.

The second part of the album is a continuous crescendo, we find the vibrant and hysterical (it's quite apt to say, given the album title) "Vlad The Impaler" where the electro-rock power of Kasabian is exponential, paving the way for a more reflective and relaxing moment of the album with "Ladies & Gentleman (Roll The Dice)", a very calm acoustic ballad.

 The last trio of tracks that closes this excellent work features in succession, "Secret Alphabets", a strongly psychedelic track, a real journey featuring strong Beatles influences combined with more modern rock sounds. "Fire", the big launching single, a track that has already claimed several victims in the group's devastating live shows, which is destined to undoubtedly become a classic, and finally the acoustic ballad with gospel undertones "Happiness", a surprising track considering that the talented Pizzorno wrote it at the tender age of 20.

In short, with this album (nominated and favored for the next Mercury Prize), it undeniably establishes itself as the true surprise of 2009, a must for genre lovers.