There comes a time in every band’s existence where they need to send a message confirming that they grasp where the music industry is headed as far as their place in it. If we accept that the industry changes every two to three years, bands need to keep their finger on the pulse in order to have a chance at remaining relevant. Kasabian have gone through these cycles and are up to album five.
They may well harbour an innate understanding of what they are trying to achieve. Their endeavours are becoming more and more akin to a six-year-old firing a machine gun. Bullets fly everywhere but only a few will hit the target. The results are self-evident. And you don’t have to be a genius to work out that 48:13 is the running time of the album. It could so easily have been more cryptic and refer to, say, page 48 of line 13 of their favourite manifesto. Anyway, this was just a thought.
In the exchange for their hard earned, fans will get enough tracks for their buck. Unfortunately, some are so short that they hardly warrant being called songs. Several others recall The Happy Mondays in their darkest, drug-hazed hue. Eez-Eh, Bumblebee, Doomsday are all the type of twistin’ my melon tracks that any rave head, full to the gills of multi-coloured pills, wide jeans and sleep deprivation, would pick themselves up for just one more assault on the dance floor.
Sadly, too many of the other songs are unhinged rave-ups, trying to be up to the minute but forever peering over their shoulder. By trying to capture too many ideas, 48:13 loses focus and becomes a jumbled eardrum buzz. But, they are headlining Glastonbury, so they can’t be doing too much wrong. Conversely, nor are they doing too much right.
BY BRONIUS ZUMERIS
Best Track: Eez-Eh
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: THE HAPPY MONDAYS, CARTER USM, MOBY, THE PRODIGY
In A Word: Delirious
