Heart of a Punk Soul of a Rasta

Kaiser Chiefs
The Future is Medieval
or

Freebies, sweeteners, promos, special editions, limited editions, gimmicks, fads, hype, social media and the marketer's manipulation of us great unwashed, part II.

The Kaisers Chiefs new album "The Future is Medieval" has come by way of a deal of social "non personal" interaction via the dead conduit medium of the internet. Gimmickry? Absolutely! On the face of it though, there is nothing wrong with a bit of flim flam like this to promote a new release, is there?. On the surface letting the punters design covers and assemble track listing was simply a damn good bit of FUN - increased crowd participation can only ever be good thing.

But of course when you take a closer look at this piece of marketeering it's quite plain it's no cure for a malaise, it's simply a different disease altogether. Increased crowd participation, as I've already said is wonderful thing, but this Kaiser Chief caper didn't stop with just the humble (and most important) FAN, it also allowed the attention seeking celebrity and professional wanker journalist to participate too. This inclusion just made me want to be sick in my mouth, swallow it, and be sick in my mouth again. Celeb chums have enough attention, and frankly they aren't the ones who've stumped up their hard earned KA$H and travelled hither and thither keeping the band in plectrums. Sorry I feel queasy again.

If that was the only downside of this marketing exercise then it would have been OK - but its not, this escapade by The Chiefs, whether knowingly or unknowingly, did something else; something that I believe is intrinsically evil. It shat on the LP. It shat fairly and squarely on what I believe to be the greatest art form of the last fifty years - THE ALBUM. And frankly in this era of the dead head ipod download further shatting and dissembling is not required. Without artistic and cognisant collation of material then we are destined for world of compilations, greatest hits and mindless mix tapes - a hollow world of nothingness. The future isn't medieval, it's media-evil. Kill the LP and we are destined for a future where everyone subsists on a diet of tinned peaches in a syrupy sweet sugar, because they've never been told about, or offered, or even ever tasted a fresh ripe peach. RANT OVER.

The Review
Between the Little Civic gig obscurity to the Civic Hall in Feb 2007, when they were finally riding high at No.1 in the charts the Kaiser Chiefs brand on new wave ladism demanded and deserved attention. Sadly 2007 was the last time I saw them play live - my attention waned - if you know what I mean - and as far as the last album and this one are concerned, I've had to leave it up to our kid to make the purchase. "Off With Their Heads" I listened to mainly through the thickness of his firmly locked bedroom door. (For me to buy an album that had been touch by the shitty stick of Mark Ronson was something that was never going to happen). And so it is with "The Future is Medieval" I've made no purchase, I've simply wrestled it off the boy to give it the once, twice or three times over.

There have always been indelible lines of similarity intersecting the progression of the Kaiser Chiefs and Madness. The capers, the comics - Peanut's hat - and the turning from the jolly to the jaded. On "The Future" the lines are there for all to see, the light entertainment and humour has for the most part been relegated to second division as drab, mundane, bleak English introspection have been given the spotlight. (Check out the skulls on the sleeve - happy days aye) And for me these bleak moments are the best of "Medieval". The plaintive "Little Shocks", the almost Joy Divisionly depressing nihilism of "Starts with Nothing", the reflective "Out of Focus" and the slow human drowning entitled "Child of the Jago". These are where the Kaisers are at their best, most interesting and strongest.

Still there are some moments of humour here as well. Not all intentional though. "Things Change" is funny all the way through. Its David Bowie writ large, or is it the Kaiser Chiefs doing Gang of Four doing David Bowie? Anywho there's a bit from "Fame", there's a bit from "Fashion", and is that a snatch from "Let's Dance"? It's all very good but really this kind of thing has to be stopped. So far this year we've had producer Steve Lillywhite reliving his La's moments with Beady Eye and Nick Launay revisiting his PiL moments with the Young Knives. Now it's the turn of producer Tony Visconti to reacquaint us with his Bowie years by way of Kaiser Chief proxy. Very daft. These blokes are just employed to twiddle knobs and tell jokes. Aren't they?

So the sea has not altogether changed for the Kaisers, but the sands of time have certainly shifted. Nick Hodgson seems to be singing more tracks nowadays and is definitely higher in the mix than ever before (whatever happened to his solo album? - is this it). "Medieval" only suffers from one thing, more is less. The album should end with "If you will have me" but tracks 11 & 12 "Heard it Break" and "Coming up for Air" should have been relegated to the position of obscure B side. "Heard it Break" is simply framed within the most tacky and nasty musical goo, and "Coming Up For Air" sounds like the lyrics were made up on the spot as the band played it thru' - both should be instantly lost on your playlist children.

And so we are back to the start. If you start out with no intention of creating a cognisant piece of art. No intention of creating an ALBUM, what you will come up with, however wonderful, will always be an inferior object - simply a collection of disparate tunes. The Kaiser Chiefs are not alone in this dumbing down of popular and unpopular music, but they do seem to be subsumed beneath the slick "celebrity endorsing" "marketing savvy" "music over manicuring" world which is a long way away from playing in front of 200 souls at the Little Civic in Wolves. A reality check is needed. They seem to be only part way there. But what do I know? Bleak moments are always the best, click and find out for yourself.