Kaiser Chiefs won’t likely win any originality points in the near future, but they embrace their role in pop music and seem to have a good time. With a sound stuffed somewhere between the Jam and Pulp, but with a quality curve hovering not much north of the Automatic, they’re not easily differentiated from the slew of current UK acts enjoying success at cranking out crisply melodic but just-spiky-enough-to-get-the-blood-pumping rock hits. Some are good (Franz Ferdinand, early Bloc Party), others not so much (Arctic Monkeys, Art Brut), but most are in the middle with the Futureheads, the Rakes, the Needles and so on. These bands seem to be of a mind that albums are just a collection of two-to-four-minute songs (a fair assessment) and, like a spoof movie, failures don’t matter so long as most stick. Consistency is a luxury they can’t afford—they’re just as happy filling their records with hits and filler alike.
On Kaiser Chiefs debut, Employment, more than half of the songs were dropped as singles and achieved various degrees of success. They even scored a No. 1 hit (“Ruby”) on their followup effort, Yours Truly, Angry Mob, but fewer small gems. Now on their third, you’d not be mistaken to expect Off with Their Heads to be more of the same. Barmy power pop, slightly more elegant and droll mid-tempo numbers and sweaty, angular rock riffs abound. Wondering whether or not the band matures, the quality is consistent, the lyrics are worth their weight, or if they make a stamp on the scene is rather irrelevant. All that matters is if the songs are catchy. This is the sort of album made for the digital age. You can dump the songs you don’t like, listen to your four or five favorites again and again, and lose absolutely nothing essential to the record or artist.
Based on the evidence of Off with Their Heads, they're not ready to try to be anything different. Pretty much any attempt to sound even remotely different results in a skippable track. The addition of a rap during the bridge of “Half the Truth” is about as uncomfortable as the R.E.M./KRS-One collaboration in the early 90s. They should never again be as overtly disco as they are during the chorus of “Addicted to Drugs.” The addition of keys and strings is a bit overbearing on the otherwise solid “Like It Too Much.” It’s like a miffed attempt to sound like XTC. And closer, “Remember You’re a Girl,” tries to be low-key and harmonious, but just sits there sedately, comparably leaden after ten quick jams, and feels tacked on. Gentle moodiness is no advantage for this outfit, but on it’s own it ain’t half bad. A rare time that taking a chance works: whether the synth and hi-hat additions to “You Want History” are successful or not is debatable, but it’s a good time regardless.
The album is front-loaded with the good ones. “Spanish Metal” is cheeky but dumb, yet the hard rock riff is surprisingly effective, nimbly engaging the sugary flourishes during the instrumental part of the refrain. “Never Miss a Beat” is a punchy little number, easily forgotten but a lot of fun for its three minutes—though it’s best to not literalize its sardonic message that “it’s cool to know nothing”; not just for the sake of education but because taking any of these lyrics at face value diminishes its worth considerably. “Good Days Bad Days” will almost certainly get a single release (if it hasn’t already) because it’s perfect fluff—entirely hollow but just so tasty. Meanwhile, the second half is wildly uneven, with one of the few highlights being the Lily Allen guest back-up vocals that float over “Always Happens Like That,” making an otherwise mediocre offering worth repeating.
Kaiser Chiefs may very well end up someday becoming an evolution of the vibrant pop rock perfected by Blur a decade ago. But Blur was many things, none of them being repetitive. If they can incorporate new tricks into their sound better in the future, they could be a band that actually surprises you with each new release. Hiring Mark Ronson as producer was a good move, but the results never gelled. Maybe Ronson was trying to make them a band they don’t want to be. But if they’re looking to spice up their sound, let’s hope the next time is better. I can’t applaud or boo this album—it’s more or less what I expected, no better and no worse. And if they can't improve, at least I can count on them tossing us a few catchy tunes every now and then. Good enough, I guess.
"Off With Their Heads" is on sale October 28, 2008 from B-Unique.
