Kasabian: Kasabian : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Kasabian of Leicester, England, are the latest in a long line of bands that fit the particular demands of the U.K. music press. First, the band is named after Linda Kasabian, the key witness in the Charles Manson murder trial, which satisfies the need for heavy-handed mystique. Lead singer Tom Meighan spews attention-demanding quips, which satisfies the self-important-frontman requirement. Most significant, the quartet draws explicitly from late-Eighties/early-Nineties rave-influenced Brit bands such as the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and Primal Scream, which means that, like many new British bands, Kasabian arrive fully formed and creatively challenged.

The best of the U.K. singles collected on Kasabian's debut also fit the Anglo-hype template of actually not being half bad. But beyond "Processed Beats," "Reason Is Treason" and "Cutt Off," which come chockablock with references to DJ Shadow, Neu! and other credibility-lending cult heroes, there isn't much substance to the band's secondhand dance rock. Kasabian make the mistake of trying to be revolutionary by quoting revolutionaries.