Skip to main content

48:13 - Kasabian


Year Released: 2014

Label: Columbia

Year Bought: 2014

For some reason, and I genuinely can't remember why, I was anti-Kasabian when they first came out. 

Perhaps I was too enthralled by the more post-punk vibes of their contemporaries such as Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand, and I dismissed the lads from Leicester as nothing more than Oasis wannabes.

Anyway, I was wrong, and Kasabian have not only outlasted many of those bands, they clearly have a great back catalogue.

48:13 was their fifth album, and I bought it after watching them headline Glastonbury in 2014 (as in, I was actually at the festival). They were brilliant that night. The crowd - full of flags and flares - were totally enthralled, and it was one of those sets where you were reminded of just how many brilliant songs a group has written. They really are the perfect festival band.

This album - the only Kasabian record I own - is a synth heavy record with proper boisterous bangers. It is peppered with electronica and hip-hop influenced beats, with everything dialled all the way to 11 for most of it.

The lead single 'eez-eh' is actually one of the weaker tracks on the album, almost straying into the novelty record 'Girls & Boys' by Blur flirted with.

'Eez-eh' is buried towards the end of the record, and before then there are some great tracks.

'Bumblebee' is absolutely classic Kasabian, and testament to the fact they are the only band to channel that Liam Gallagher swagger without it being cringe.

'Stevie' starts off with strings and brass before building into another absolute stomper, while 'treat' is a sinister tune with that trademark Kasabian low-slung verse melody before going up a notch.

It's not all lads lads lads, with 'bow' showing some actual vulnerability, and album closer 's.p.s' a straight soft rock tune with slide guitars that even has a Beatles-style outro.

Some of the lyrics are a bit jarring. 'Glass' features a pretty by-numbers view of how the man wants to keep us all in boxes yeah. 

'We fought an entire army with a bouquet of flowers back in the '70's , But now you're taught to remain without will until you run out of energy. Afraid that if you strive for an ideal you end up like a Kennedy,' spoken word poet Suli Breaks tells us. So deep. 

Apart from 's.p.s', and the occasional brief instrumental, the album is quite full-on, but it's Kasabian. It's what you want from them. It's songs you can dance to while drinking Red Stripe. It's great.

8/10

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eye To The Telescope – KT Tunstall

Year Released: 2004 Label: Relentless Year Bought: No Idea I'm not sure why I have this record. I have no record of buying it. I've never listened to it. But then I do own two Dido albums so it's not exactly out of character of me to have it. I've always thought KT Tunstall was a pretty cool person. She's clearly talented. But this album, I just can't really connect with it. There's some good tunes on here. 'Black Horse and the Cherry Tree' is great, as is 'Suddenly I See'. 'Another Place To Fall' hints at some darker tones, and 'Under The Weather' builds nicely. But overall it's just all a bit safe. I vaguely remember reading an interview with Tunstall a few years after this came out in which she said the original mix was a lot more rough and bluesy, but the label wanted it more polished. You can definitely hear how this album could have been scuffed up. 'Stopping The Love' is a good example of that. It's a mi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Coming Up – Suede

  Year Released: 1996 Label: Nude Year Bought: 2011 I know lots of people love this album, and it has got some great songs on it, but I just can't love it. It's too trebly, too thin, too cold. It kicks off with 'Trash', which is an absolutely brilliant tune with fantastic lyrics. Brett is at his absolute best here, with talk of "nowhere towns" and "cellophane sounds", and being the "litter on the breeze". I love it. But, alas we go from one of Suede's best songs to one of their worst. 'Filmstar' feels incredibly lazy. The riff is nothing, and as for the lyrics:  Filmstar propping up the bar driving in a car it looks so easy Filmstar propping up the bar driving in a car tonight These are Noel Gallagher-on-an-incredibly-bad-day lyrics.  I hate the riff, I hate the chorus, I hate the lyrics. I hate how shiny it is. It's lazy ... which is the title of the next song. This tune sees the first use on the album of the "here the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Intimacy – Bloc Party

Year Released: 2008 Label: Wichita Year Bought: 2008 Bloc Party's first two albums were absolute mainstays of my uni years, but their third, 2008's 'Intimacy', didn't touch the sides. All I remember of this album is that they were trying to be nu-rave and the beginning bit of 'Mercury'.  Listening to this album for the first time in 16 years, I can see why I didn't get on with it at the time. It's a dense, loud album, with hardly any room in the songs for air. The drums  – and drum machines – are all very in-your-face so it is a struggle to really sit and actually listen to.  The use of electronic drums is one of the main departures from Bloc Party's previous efforts, which for me is a real shame. One of the strengths of the group was that Matt Tong was a one-man drum machine, and using actual drum machines just feels like a step backwards. Opening song 'Ares' kicks things off with a searing guitar and huge drums that sound like something...
Post a Comment
Read more