West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

by Kasabian

For the most part it’s not hard to spot Kasabian’s influences on this album (or indeed any of their others): a motorik rhythm section reminiscent of Primal Scream’s Vanishing Point combines with anthemic Oasis-like choruses whilst guitars and keyboards swirl around the arrangements in a quasi-psychedelic haze. Calling it original, or forward thinking would be a gross exaggeration, but Kasabian have had nearly ten years to hone their sound and when it hits its high points, labelling it anything less than a powerful and enjoyable rock album would be an injustice.

Lead single ‘Fire’ stomps around menacingly before taking the tempo up a notch and cracking out a chorus that almost seems designed to galvanise a festival crowd, whereas other highlights on the album, ‘Where Did All The Love Go’ and ‘Fast Fuse’ reinforce the notion that Kasabian are at their best when speeding through their repertoire at full pelt, the onslaught leaving you no time to think about the lyrics too hard.

Despite all their moaning about being categorised as lad-rock, Kasabian haven’t presented us with much here to suggest otherwise, and the songs on which they do stray from their traditional guitar driven dance sound are low points, slowing down the album’s momentum. What they have achieved, however, is a solid third album, which takes their established sound and subtly twists and turns it to provide us with a welcome addition to their discography. True, it sounds on occasion like they’re stuck in 1998, but since when has harking back to days gone by been a crime in the music business? If you get nothing else this album it should still provide you with an overdue reminder about how good Death In Vegas were.