Kaiser Chiefs
★★★
Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album
V2. CD/DL/LP/MC
Album number eight. Nobody predicts a riot.
When Kaiser Chiefs were rattling out early-career anthems such as I Predict A Riot and Ruby, it seemed as though the world was theirs for the taking. It wasn’t quite that simple. The well of anthems ran dry around the time frustrated drummer Nick Hodgson left in 2012, while erratic shows in 2022 suggested all was far from well. Yet, here they are for the first time since 2019’s Duck and they’re still shape-shifting. Now in thrall to the post-punk disco of LCD Soundsystem, the fate-temptingly titled Easy Eighth Album finds Nile Rodgers guesting on the spry Feeling Alright and David Arnold giving Bond-style ambience to Burning In Flames. Despite one-time Rudimental leader Amir Amor’s rather flat production and the dearth of all-out tub-thumpers beyond the wry The Lads, they’ve transformed themselves into a differently beguiling proposition.