THE RIOTOUS BROTHERS

IN JUST FOUR SHORT YEARS, KASIER CHIEFS HAVE BEEN DUBBED SAVIOURS OF THE BRITPOP ROCK SCENE. KEYBOARDIST NICK “PEANUT” BAINES TELLS BEN PREECE ABOUT ALBUM NUMBER THREE AND WHY THEIR SUCCESS IS NO FLUKE.

Many would deem Yours Truly, Angry Mob – the second album from Leeds’ cheekiest boys of British rock Kaiser Chiefs – something of a disappointment after the bar that was set with their triumphant debut Employment. So it comes as no surprise that these ambitious lads are out to recapture their audience’s attention and have pumped out album number three, Off With Their Heads, in no time at all.
“It feels good,” Peanut says of the album’s completion. “You realise you’re making a third record for a start; a lot of bands these days don’t get to a chance do that. We’ve settled into our groove, into whatever it is what we do. We still like to change and progress as we go. Like the feel of this album, I really like it. It feels like we’re getting closer to where we want to go or something. We start off with something and when you’ve written those songs, you imagine how you want them to sound; we’re getting closer to that and that’s what we wanted to sound like.”
The new direction is not so far removed from the one that sold a squillion copies of their debut and quickly put them squarely in the public eye, but it does breathe new life into what could’ve quickly become a tired sound. Helped along by dynamo producer Mark Ronson and assisted by newcomer Elliott James, the band had originally intended to quickly cut a few songs for an EP release but, when the sessions went so well, they felt they had no choice but to just keep going until an album was complete.
“The combination of the two of them – producing and engineering – was brilliant by itself,” Peanut gushes. “Sonically and production-wise, we’ve ended up with exactly what we want; the record sounds and feels good. The songs feel interesting and not too boring straight down the line. Sonically, it sounds different to our last two records which is something we wanted to move away from a bit. I think by using older instruments and recording straight to tape and stuff like that, you get that kind of an older sound to the overall record but we’re still a modern band.”
Mark Ronson came to the attention of the Kaiser Chiefs last year when he recruited Lily Allen to cover the band’s hit ‘Oh My God’ for his own Version album. Ronson’s take on the song went on to be a hit also and opened the door for a friendship made in musical heaven.
“It was fun making a record with Mark,” Peanut says. “We’d met him through various bits and pieces, seen him at awards and gigs and things. He expressed interest, at the time, that when we wanted to record again, he’d like to work with us.
“When I think about it now and what I think of when I’m listening to the record; you hear ‘Spanish Metal’ first, I don’t know about that song, it’s weird. I love it but I don’t know where you’d pigeonhole it, or what it sounds like, or even what it meant. I love the progression of the record; I think there’s quite a few curveballs that are in there. You’ve got ‘Good Days Bad Days’ – I love that song, I think people are really going to like that song but I don’t think it’s what they will expect from us. I think that of ‘Tomato In The Rain’; it has a very Gary G, psychedelic sort of sound and finds its worth on the album, definitely.”
Ronson’s work is most apparent on first single ‘Never Miss A Beat’, a cracking New Wave stomper featuring an infectious call-and-response verse that featured a few guests.
“The song itself started when Mick brought in the bass line,” Peanut says of the song. “But it’s quite awkward on its own and I’m hearing it at the time thinking that it’s going to be really good. And then it grew and grew and then when it drops to that ‘Take a look, take a look...’ part, it reminds me of someone one telling me once that we really knew how to hit a chorus. Lily Allen came in and did a little bit of backing vocals on the song along with the girls from New Young Pony Club. At the time, the song was complete without her vocal but there were just gaps in the song, gaps that were intended to be there. Around the time of mixing, Mark said that he’d got an idea and had done this with it and wanted to know what we’d think. We were all precious and territorial and it didn’t go down too well at first but now I can’t imagine the song without it. It fits really well.”
The song features lyrics of social commentary, something the Kaiser Chiefs have been known to accomplish successfully before with tracks like ‘Modern Way’, ‘Everything Is Average Nowadays’ and ‘I Predict A Riot’.
“Obviously the main lyric to it – ‘The kids on the street, they never miss a beat’ – means that the kids these days don’t miss a trick and just how sharp they are compared to maybe when we were growing up. You can get caught out by the kids these days, it’s quite funny. The whole ‘What do you want for tea?/I want crisps’ thing – that’s the sort of thing you hear from the kids, they say what they want and what they feel but in an innocent way. Quite often it’s closer to the truth than what adults might say.
“It’s not important that we’ve got to be up to date and have some commentary that’s relevant every year, it’s just the way we write the songs,” Peanut explains. “It’s a case of you write what you see; that’s where the inspiration comes from and Ricky [Wilson, vocals] comes up with the little bits and pieces. It might be something that he overheard or something he has seen or a little description of the scene or something. He just makes it rhyme and work into a song, that’s what we do and what usually happens with a first verse or something.”
Rumoured to be returning in February/March of 2009, Australia awaits with baited breath of another Kaiser Chiefs tour announcement. The band have a bulletproof reputation Down Under as a killer live band and were one of the definite highlights of Splendour in the Grass 2007.
“It’s not pot luck when we have a good day,” Peanut brags. “We’ve played a lot of live gigs and we always make sure we give it 110 [per cent] every time. You don’t want to go to Australia and be half-arsed. We might there and only do six shows, so you have to make them good. Festivals are great, they’re no one’s gig really and the crowd is there for the taking. You can often turn out to be a surprise for people. We love being in a band and we love being in our band, and want to be the best that we can.
WHO: Kaiser Chiefs
WHAT: Off With Their Heads (Liberator)