Anche i Kaiser Chiefs arrivano alla fatidica terza prova con questo "Off With Their Heads".

Varie ed interessanti le collaborazioni per questa nuova fatica in studio: da Lily Allen (ai cori per il singolone "Never Miss A Beat" ed "Always Happens Like That") ai  New Young Pony Club, dal rapper Sway DaSafo al grande David Arnold.

Il disco arriva a solo un anno e mezzo dal precedente (e buono) "The Angry Mob", e segna un passo importante nella carriera ancora giovanissima della band inglese, che per l'occasione va sul sicuro scegliendo un fior di produttore come Mark Ronson (coadiuvato da Eliot James) e lanciando l'album con una hit a pronta presa come la succitata "Never Miss A Beat", bella ritmata e divertente.

Le buone impressioni suscitate dal singolo vengono confermate con l'ascolto integrale del disco: dopo una parentesi leggermente più "appesantita" nei suoni e nelle linee melodiche come "The Angry Mob" (nella quale la band ha comunque mostrato una discreta qualità di scrittura), i Chiefs dimostrano alla grande di aver ritrovato quella verve che aveva tanto colpito nell'ottimo esordio "Employment". L'iniziale "Spanish Metal" (vagamente "musara") scuote e vibra che è una meraviglia, "Like It Too Much" (arricchita dagli archi) recupera le atmosfere giocose e sornione dell'opera prima. "You Want History" è tutta da ballare, e qui Ronson calca veramente (e piacevolmente) la mano.

Come sempre numerosi i papabili singoli vincenti (il nuovo "Good Days Bad Days", che emana un piacevole funk-flavour niente male, ma anche la scatenata "Half The Truth"), oltre a qualche  bell'omaggio a certe sonorità british anni '90 ("Tomato In The Rain", "Remember You're A Girl" ed "Always Happens Like That", quest'ultima con un bell'assolo alla Graham Coxon). "Addicted To Drugs", invece, parte alla grande ma poi si perde un pò troppo per strada.

I Kaiser Chiefs, in conclusione, convincono anche con la terza prova, e si avviano a conquistare una bella e solida posizione nel panorama musicale britannico.

Oh yes, they never miss a beat.

Tracce chiave: "Spanish Metal", "Never Miss A Beat", "Like It Too Much", "Half The Truth"

Elenco tracce testi e video

01   Spanish Metal (02:19)

02   Never Miss a Beat (03:08)

What did you learn today,
I learned nothing
What did you do today,
I did nothing
What did you learn at school,
I didn't go-o
Why didn't you go to school,
I don't know

It's cool, to know nothing
It's cool, to know nothing

Television's on the blink,
There's nothing on it
I really wanna really big coat,
With words on it
What do you want for tea,
I want crisps
Why don't you join the team,
I just didn't

It's cool, to know nothing
It's cool, to know nothing

Take a look, take a look,
take a look at the kids on the street
No they never miss a beat,
no they never miss a beat,
never miss a beat
Never miss a beat beat, beat beat

Take a look at the kids on the street,
No they never miss a beat,
no they never miss a beat,
never miss a beat,
Never miss a, never miss a beat,
never miss a beat

Here comes the referee,
The light's flashin'
Best bit of the day,
Now that's living
Why don't you run away,
Are you kidding
What is the golden rule,
You say nothing

It's cool, to know nothing
It's cool, to know nothing

Take a look, take a look,
take a look at the kids on the street
No they never miss a beat,
no they never miss a beat,
never miss a beat
Never miss a beat beat, beat beat

Take a look at the kids on the street,
No they never miss a beat,
no they never miss a beat,
never miss a beat,
Never miss a, never miss a beat,
never miss a beat

03   Like It Too Much (03:23)

04   You Want History (03:46)

Yesterday you lay awake on your bed
And worked out you'd done everything that you said
That you'd do before you got to this age
The lord of the bored and a slave to the beige

It's a mystery
It's a mystery
You want some history
It's a mystery

So last night you got up and out of this room
The ceiling is peeling and covered in gloom
But jaguar shoes is a place you can stare
A procession of lessons in what not to wear

It's a mystery
It's a mystery
You want history
It's a mystery

Today as you shake off the drunken debris
All that is left is the vague memory
Of down in the grout of a night on the tiles
It's hard to remember but totally worthwhile

It's a mystery
It's a mystery
You want some history
It's a mystery

It's a waste of money you have to admit
If it's a waste of money you have to have it

It's a waste of brains but hard to resist
If you wanted mystery you've blown it

It's a waste of money you have to admit
If it's a waste of money you have to have it

It's a waste of brain cells hard to resist
If you wanted history you missed it

If the girls start moving the boys will start moving
If the girls start moving the boys will join in

If the girls start moving the boys will start moving
If the girls start moving the boys will join in

If the girls start moving the boys will start moving
If the girls start moving the boys will join in

If the girls start moving the boys will start moving
If the girls start moving the boys will join in

oh oh oh-oh-oh oh oh oh

05   Can't Say What I Mean (02:49)

Nothing I say's so important
That it can't be shortened to fit on a badge
I wish that I could be contrite
And deliver her sound bites, but here is the catch

Everybody applauds her
From the lord to the hoards and a nation is swept
By her one to one conversations
In adult education I would tell her except

Can't say you're unattractive
But I'm out of practice at this sort of thing
It's not like I'm talking Italian
Or I wear a medallion and a sovereign ring

Great things can be expressed
In fifteen words or less and pinned onto your heart
Words just don't do it justice
The world and it's crust is still drifting apart

Can't say what I mean
Do you know when you go I get all tongue-tied
I'm the same all again back when you arrive

What a face
What a face
Can you blame me for pulling a face?
What a waste
What a face

06   Good Days Bad Days (02:53)

Follow the underdog
Hold on his collar tight
This city loves a scrap
One day it's gonna fight

Sticks and stones and animal bones
Can't stop me from having a good day
On a bad day
There's good days and bad days

Making a night of it
Breaking the barriers
Drowning the sorrows
Upset the regulars

Sticks and stones and animal bones
Can't stop me from getting away with
Good days and bad days
There's good days and bad days


Sticks and stones and animal bones
Sticks and stones and animal bones
There's good days and bad days
There's good days and bad days


If you had a different attitude
Instead of taking taking to
You have missed an opportunity
And that's a really big mistake
If you had a different attitude
You'd still have good days and bad days

07   Tomato in the Rain (03:51)

08   Half the Truth (03:44)

09   Always Happens Like That (03:12)

10   Addicted to Drugs (03:53)

Woahhhh
Yeahhhhh
Woahhhh

Getting married in the morning
It's hardly peaches and cream
We haven't got a lot in common
Except the daily routine
Nothing on the Television
Just the dust on the screen
So, come on lets get together
Why don't we join a team?

You might as well face it you're addicted to drugs
You might as well face it your addicted...
You might as well face it you're addicted to drugs
You might as well face it your addicted...

Woahhhh
Yeahhhhh
Woahhhh

Greatest poet of the sixth form
Turned out to be a fraud
Man you got a lot of buddies
How do you remember them all?

You might as well face it you're addicted to drugs
You might as well face it you're addicted...
You might as well face it you're addicted to drugs
You might as well face it you're addicted...

You might as well face it you're addicted to drugs
You might as well face it you're addicted...
You might as well face it you're addicted to drugs
You might as well face it you're addicted...

11   Remember You're a Girl (02:37)

Carico i commenti...  con calma

Altre recensioni

Di  salv

 "L'album non è immediato come i due precedenti ma richiede più ascolti per essere apprezzato."

 "Spanish Metal presenta una struttura atipica, non avendo per la prima volta un ritornello, ma costituisce l'intro ideale."


Di  temi

 È una boccata d’aria, contiene suoni freschissimi dopo quelli del pesantuccio “Yours Truly Angry Mob”.

 I Kaiser Chiefs non sono i Blur, ma li scopiazzano terribilmente bene.