Kaiser Chiefs: Employment : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Old-school British-rock fans used to wear buttons proclaiming god save the kinks. Now those buttons will have to read god save the Kaiser Chiefs. These five natty lads from Leeds have come out of nowhere in the past few months to become the toast of Britannia, blasting out danceable art-punk gems full of guitar fuzz, na-na-na choruses and boyish energy. "I Predict a Riot" is one of the year's catchiest singles, a Clash-style anthem about street hassles in their native northern England town. Lead singer Ricky Wilson grabs you with the opening line, "Watching the people get lairy/It's not very pretty, I tell thee" -- the coolest use of thee in a pop song, ever. It's a totally addictive song from a totally addictive band.

The Kaiser Chiefs' debut, Employment, has the same breathless New Wave rush as "I Predict a Riot." They sound like they could be Adam and the Ferdinands -- or is that Franz and the Ants? Either way, they have the tunes down. Wilson is a sharp observer of everyday life, singing about girlfriends who move to London and hang out with creeps, friends who get beaten up by cops, and dead-end jobs. The whole band chants the dippy breakup song, "Every Day I Love You Less and Less" (rhymes with "It makes me sick to think of you undressed" and "Yes, I'm stressed, I'm sorry I digress"). With nods to Brian Wilson ("Caroline, Yes") and Brian Eno ("Modern Way"), plus the pop exuberance of "Born to Be a Dancer" and "Na Na Na Na Naa," the Kaiser Chiefs make you want to sing along with practically every song by the second chorus. They predict a riot? They already are one.