Kaiser Chiefs

Ricky Wilson - vocals
Andrew White - guitar
Simon Rix - bass
Nick Hodgson - drums
Nick 'Peanut' Baines - keyboards

The breakthrough act of 2005, Leeds’ Kaiser Chiefs formed several years ago, where they recorded under the name Parva (and before that Runston Parva). Dropped from their label in 2003, the band regrouped under the name Kaiser Chiefs, chosen in homage to Leeds United player Lucas Radebe, Kaiser Chiefs being the name of his former club in South Africa. They went on to refine their music from the scruffy garage rock that dominated the early part of the decade to a more commercial sound.

That decision has certainly been vindicated, with the band’s debut album ‘Employment’ winning many plaudits and enjoying great success – it has spent longer in the Top 10 album chart than any other record this year, having entered at number three in March. Meanwhile, hit singles such as 'Oh My God', 'Everyday I Love You Less And Less' and 'I Predict A Riot' have led many to regard the band’s emergence as a return to the Britpop movement of the 1990s.

The band have made no secret of being huge fans of the period; singer Ricky Wilson was visibly in thrall when he met his hero Damon Albarn at the 2005 South By South West festival and also demonstrates many of the quirky characteristics that made Jarvis Cocker a star.

Favourites for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize, Kaiser Chiefs look set to feature prominently on most end of year polls, with a number of Brit Award nominations expected to follow. They have also enjoyed reasonable success away from the UK, most notably in the US, where they were the opening act at the Philadelphia Live 8 concert on July 2nd 2005, one of only two British acts in the lineup, Def Leppard being the other.

'Employment'  (B-Unique) 2005