Kasabian: The West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Aslyum

The West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum doesn't exist anymore but it was once a mental institution that was used to house the mentally poor. 

We're guessing Kasabian clicked the 'Random Article' on Wikipedia a few too many times because this record of the same name has nothing to do with the 19th century building whatsoever and if anything; it's probably an offence to the institutes name.

Second track, Where Did All The Love Go? isn't really worth mentioning and does nothing but annoy for its entire duration. It's diabolically infuriating in rhythm and the vocals...oh god the vocals *punches wall*.

We understand what Kasabian are and are attempting to accomplish - danceable indie-rock with a healthy dose of Brit-Pop - but it could be done so much better. Their debut was by no means fantastic but it did hold a raw urgency that is completely lacking on this record.

The gritty edge that Kasabian once had has gone, its become formulaic, almost drivel for as far as the eye can see. Thick As Thieves is a venture into gentler territory but again, it sounds neither coherent nor intelligent. West Ryder Silver Bullet starts with a strange, eery aged-recording which we imagine came from the asylum pertained to in the title. What follows is an attempt to equally match the unsettled intro and though it fails, it's one of the more digestible songs from the already bloated, unattractive record. It gets bonus points for creating a decent if simple atmosphere and though it's ruined by the vocals, the instrumentation manages to raise an eye-brow (make that half an eye-brow...if possible).

It may seem that we're being awfully hard on the band and their new record - but there really is absolutely nothing that redeems it enough to warrant a compliment. The production is too overbearing and the band seem uncomfortable with almost every melody they conjure, not to mention the tired, repetitive structures they insist on using. Harsh we may be, but unfortunately, its justified.

Secret Alphabets is an uneven journey into psychedelia that sounds acceptable when they stop twitching about with it and let the song run its natural course. It's repetitive after a single listen but it does offer another dim spark of hope in an otherwise pitch-black cave of mediocrity. Successive to that is Fire which could be regarded as the worst song on the album, lacking any real substance, that will surely make hardcore Kasabian fans punch the wall.

It seems that Kasabian - like many bands lately, are trying desperately hard to reclaim their stomping indie past even though they let go that with album number two, Empire. There is plenty of better, substantive, superior music around right now. West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum is nothing but a forgettable waste of time that displays a band struggling with both innovation and ideas.