Employment

KAISER CHIEFS Employment (2005 UK 12-track CD album - their Mercury Award nominated debut album including the storming singles I Predict A Riot Oh My God Everyday I Love You And Less & Modern Way)

On Employment, raffish, trilby-clad young Leeds quintet Kaiser Chiefs prove themselves the logical heirs to the Britpop throne previously warmed by the likes of Blur and Supergrass, twinning expectant verses with rollicking choruses and generally acting very much like indie-rock's latest swaggering young Jack the Lads.

There's no doubt, the Kaisers know their rock history: "Oh My God" and "Every Day I Love You Less and Less" barrel along with something of Madness' playful charm, while "You Can Have It All" and the lush "Caroline, Yes" appear to be conscious nods to the sleepy, harmony-laden Californian pop vision of Brian Wilson. The lyrics of frontman Ricky Wilson, however, are rooted in a very English sensibility--one often traditional and occasionally, bizarrely archaic: "Walking through town is quite scary/ It's not very pretty, I tell thee," he gasps on adrenaline-fuelled urban nightmare "I Predict A Riot". It's the sort of pleasingly unusual idiosyncrasy that sees Employment stand out from the fashionable indie pack, and assuming the Chiefs can continue to keep their foibles the right side of irksome, any attitude is thoroughly justified. --Louis Pattison