The Mobfathers - Kaiser Chiefs

Two years ago - armed with an anthemic selection of Britpop throwbacks and dressed like the love-children of Ronald McDonald and a west-country scarecrow - the Kaiser Chiefs ruled the land. From humble toilet stops in the nation’s finest Barflys to opening the American edition of Live 8, it was an epic rise that hadn’t been seen since, well, Britpop. If you didn’t ‘get it’ you weren’t in luck either because it was inescapable. If it wasn’t 50,000 people repeating the lines ‘I predict a riot…III predict a riot’ in worship to the band playing before them, then it was 50,000 people chanting them from the terraces as ‘motivating’ ode to their beloved football team. Equally as excited, lager infused choral societies in pubs nationwide finally prized their decade old copy of ‘Definitely Maybe’ out of the CD player because suddenly there was a new hymn sheet to sing from, and promptly, worship at the feet of.

Well now, the band who reminded us of the sound of British music, the Kaiser’s Chiefs are back - bigger, bolder and, er, blacker. That’s right, the first thing you notice about this new era in the Chiefs’ history is that - in the same vein as The Killer’s and other ex-classmates from the ‘class of 2004’ - the Kaiser Chiefs have toned down. Indeed, as Nick ‘Peanut’ Baines, the band’s keyboardist explains, you’re more likely to find Ricky Wilson’s circus jackets - and anything else that made the band appear to be just a Britpop ‘novelty’ act - in a Leeds charity shop as opposed to their tour wardrobe now. “I looked at some recent photo shoots and there are a lot of jackets and black trousers and shoes and things,” he adds. “I guess it’s a bit of a rebellion against being typified as this kind of novelty wearing band with the hats and the stripy blazers.”

The initial reason for the Kaiser’s rainbow coloured wardrobe was a lot more sinister and business-like, than merely just a way to get in touch with their closet feminine side. The reality was that after years of plugging away in dead-end bar jobs it provided an unforgettable way for the five Leeds lads to finally get noticed. “There is part of me that thinks that we were looking for attention, and looking to get noticed as a band,” Peanut explains. “It’s very difficult to do when you’re a support band for anyone to actually remember you, never mind your songs. But we struck a chord with people quite quickly with our image.” One thing that was always certain to them however was that they were going to make it. “We never really considered, well obviously we realised that we had to live but it wasn’t like, ‘I’ve got to do this so it can be my living,’ it was just, ‘I’ve got to find a crappy office job so that I can take a day off to go to London and do a gig so that we can get a record deal and I don’t have to work anymore.’”

Indeed, if there’s a band who prove that perseverance pays dividends then it’s probably t’Chiefs. When they finally snatched that allusive record deal - as 2.8 million sales of their debut album to date proves – they didn’t exactly squander the opportunity they’d worked for. It’s understandable then that they choose to attack the albums follow-up - ‘Yours Truly, Angry Mob’ - with the same vigour.

Recorded throughout the most of last year, ‘Yours Truly…’ picks up from where Employment literally took off. Peanut is keen to point out, however, that it’s more representative of Employment, the live “heavier” rock show, as opposed to 'Employment' the album. Packed with big, yet this time more percussive sounding hits, it’s certainly everything we should expect a Kaiser Chiefs album to sound like in 2007 – especially after two years on the road playing to more and more worshipers every night. “It feels like a very, very natural progression,” Peanut confesses. “You want to evolve as a band; it’s healthy to evolve as a band. We’re glad that people do see it as a departure but without losing what we were good at which is writing catchy songs and lyrical choruses and putting on a live show that’s full of energy – that’s all still in there.”