Kaiser Chiefs have confirmed that they’ll be back with a new album later in 2014, but for anyone pining hard for a riot far from her with a ruby ruby ruby chant along chorus, they’ve already released the first single Bows and Arrows, so we thought we’d do a review to give you a sense of what to expect. With another nine tracks still to come, the first few festival dates confirmed and an expected UK tour, the Chiefs look set to be back in a big way in 2014.
The new album is titled Education, Education, Education and War, but it’s not due out until Monday the 31st March 2014. However, Bows and Arrows is out already on digital download, but we can only find it on iTunes at the moment, but it shouldn’t be too long before it finds itself on Amazon and all other good digital music retailers (Spindics, Groovetrack Crack, Bouncies etc…).
The single itself is an odd mix, despite being infused with the trademark Kaiser Chief’s anthemic and catchy spirit. If you took a little of Ricky Wilson and the rest of the Chieftains and combined it with snippets of Paul Weller and The Jam, The Enemy and Utravox, randomly, you probably wouldn’t be too far from the mark (that was a subliminal pun, honestly!).
There’s an old-school alt rock feel to the song and it’s a credit to Kaiser Chiefs for picking up on it and making it a part of their latest return to the UK alt-indie-rock-pop-mix scene. New drummer, Vijay Mistry adds a lot to the track with some strong rhythmic interchanges, creating an evolving backdrop for Bows and Arrows.
It’s not a perfect track, but you can tell by just hearing it a few times that it’s going to get one hell of a lot of radio play over the year. The verse isn’t anywhere near as approachable as the anthem-like chorus, but it’s salvaged a little by some very cool drum beats that lead things back to the hit of the chorus.
There’s clearly a war and proletariat peace theme running through the Kaiser Chief’s latest material, which is sort of understandable considering the turbulence of the times since global terrorism darkened everyone’s doors. If anything it’s sort of surprising it all hasn’t inspired more philosophical lyrics, but then there’s a certain cloying nature in that kind of song and a tendency to want to separate serious issues from music.
There’s also the cliche element to take into account and while the Stones managed to avoid it with sheer brute force in Doom and Gloom, we’re not 100% sure that’s entirely the case here, but it’ll still get you in the end.
Kaiser Chiefs, Bows and Arrows review: 3.4/5
Kaiser Chiefs, Bows and Arrows Soundcloud stream:
Kaiser Chiefs, Education, Education, Education and War album track list:
1. The Factory Gates
2. Coming Home
3. Misery Company
4. Ruffians On Parade
5. Meanwhile Up In Heaven
6. One More Last Song
7. My Life
8. Bows & Arrows
9. Cannons
10. Roses
