KasabianEmpire | RCA  September 11,
2006 4:28:15 PM
Last week the second CD by this English dance-rock act debuted atop the British albums chart, and Kasabian’s notoriously loudmouthed members weren’t exactly gracious about it. “He’s a midget with whiskers,” frontman Tom Meighan is reported to have said of Justin Timberlake, whose “SexyBack” topped the UK singles chart opposite Kasabian. That swagger isn’t limited to the band’s extra-musical commentary — it’s also the main ingredient on Empire, where fuzzy, stadium-geared guitar riffs ride digitally enhanced block-rocking beats and Meighan’s whiny vocal melodies carry traces of old recordings by rave-rock pioneers like Primal Scream and the Happy Mondays. The post-Oasis racket at times achieves a soccer-hooligan anti-grace: “Last Trip (In Flight)” sports a satisfyingly trashy go-go-garage groove, and “Shoot the Runner” could be T. Rex remixed by Fatboy Slim. But Kasabian can’t do anything besides snarl, a limitation that’s starting to show after only two albums.
Kasabian + Mew | Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston | September 17 | 617.228.6000
|
 |
|
- The Phoenix looks with loving eyes at some of the worst people, places, and things in the world — and gives them a big hug
- Rather than improving political discourse, Internet pundits are making things worse
- The Devil knows what the nominations will be for this year’s Oscars
- Bush-administration lawyers could be nailed for their role in destroying evidence in the CIA scandal, thanks to a quiet Connecticut child-porn case
- Barack Obama sounds just like Deval Patrick. Is that good or bad?
- Never mind its tough-girl alt-porn feminism: SuicideGirls has already moved on to a new generation
- These guys couldn't turn on a radio
- A million words for rice
- The year in would-be catch phrases
- Philip Whalen’s word bombs
- The Phoenix looks with loving eyes at some of the worst people, places, and things in the world — and gives them a big hug
- Rather than improving political discourse, Internet pundits are making things worse
|
-
Interview: Tyler Ramsey splits the difference with Band of Horses
-
Meet the Eels: Essential Eels, Vol. 1: 1996–2006 | Geffen
-
Hi-Fi Stereo | Yep Roc
-
Smile for Them | Sire
-
Alive 2007 | Virgin
-
Bend To Break | Equal Vision
-
Dewey Cox and Rufus Wainwright
-
Get the Gore | Bloodshot
-
Heresy and the Hotel Choir | Flameshovel
-
We Sing of Only Blood or Love | Fat Possum
|
- Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zula | Heads Up
- Urban Angel | Quango
- Strangefolk | Cooking Vinyl
- Meet the Eels: Essential Eels, Vol. 1: 1996–2006 | Geffen
- Angels of Destruction! | Yep Roc
- If He Is Protecting Our Nation, Then Who Will Protect Big Oil, Our Children | Polyvinyl
- Archives Vol. 1 | Amoeba
- Oi Oi Oi | Last Gang
- Hi-Fi Stereo | Yep Roc
- D-Sides | EMI
|
|
|
|