Switches Arrive, Kaisers Return...
By: Alex Lee Thomson
Ladies and gentlemen, we've got some great news... go and grab your granny from the living room and gather everybody around the computer... guess who's back... only the bloody Kaiser Chiefs! And better yet, they're sounding remarkable.
Before we get carried away and over excited let's talk about the reason rockfeedback dragged its ass to the recording of Channel 4's Album Chart Show at Koko in Camden in the first place, or rather the two reasons: a certain Mr Patrick Wolf and the dynamite sound explosion of new Vines-esque ensemble Switches.
Patrick Wolf is guy whose live show is simply too in depth to adequately recreate with textual description. I had visions of this chap prancing around on stage wearing a glittery top generally trying to make himself the centre of attention albeit through the use of his own enchanting and awe-inspiring songs. What I found though wasn't a performer pushing to become centre stage, but somebody that by making himself a minor character in the story of his own live music, inescapably became 'the conductor' of the show, and without hogging the experience, transformed the short set into an event you truly felt part of.
Like Connor Oberst, Patrick likes to maintain a sense of control over his surrounding music and occasionally stopped a song to inform his accompanying players to boost their parts up a wee bit to change the feel of the entire tune. Wolf is a natural performer who moves around stage playing various instruments in a teasing way as we've seen Larrikin Love behave, without making it seem contrived as many other artists do. He's got a quality that goes beyond charm and into some other realm of inexpressible appeal, an appeal that hoists his Celtic absorbed folk ballads into a height of full-on and paralysing majesty which befits bands like The Pogues, a group that have taken twenty something years to reach this same level of raptness.
Of his uber-short three song set, 'The Stars' stood out as a masterwork with a haunting facade similar to that of Sigur Ros, but with an electro synth beat tucked in behind that again takes you somewhere else. Patrick's vocals and bohemic string-waving were showcased so well that you got swept up in the magical imprisonment that the song eagerly achieves and sustains you above the clouds for the remainder of the show. Second fable 'Get Lost' was a tad more playful but no less poignant and stood out as the crowds' favourite song, possibly due to its simplicity, but it's equally likely this could be due to Patrick's best vocal display of the night. He shook off all ideas that he's a musician first and a singer second (like all the greats) and proved that he's got a beautiful, at times almost Damon Albarn-like voice.
'The Magical Position' was also a surprisingly well delivered hit of power and below the surface of a seemingly mid-60s Righteous Brothers ditty laid another superbly constructed and catchy drug-like song that escalated to an abrupt end to the show and fused the three songs into a seamless array of shear endowment. Patrick is beyond a singer, his music is beyond 'songs' and his talent is far more than a passing flash in the pan. His use of instruments and their various arrangements leaves a befuddled and flustered wonderment, coupled with his knowledgeable variety of styles and genres, makes him one of the leading artists of our time and shouts Bowie from every corner of perception.
This was the fourth time this rockfeedbacker had seen Switches live, the first was as an unknown support band for The Automatic, and sparked by that the second time followed just hours later in Stoke On Trent with the third being at Leeds Festival - a varied list of settings, you'll agree. Yet when I saw them play for the fourth time I was instantly and bafflingly blown away by the size of their rock. While they've been away in the US making what will be their debut album their sound has grown exponentially, taking them from what some members of the press once called a Vines-like scratch, to a conquering and triumphant Vines-surpassing power-rock stampede that charges at you with adrenaline and focus. When they opened with latest single 'Drama Queen', a usually entertaining though patchy and un-commanding track, the change was apparent and the song pelted frantic and frenzied shards of sound at you that sliced through your skin like lemon-soaked razorblades, stinging your senses.
A song that's always had a strong live appeal is 'Lay Down The Law', a positive chant-a-long, the psychedelic punch line of which comes from the singles hypnotizing chorus line that beats against it's own innards of kitsch guitars and drum loops. It wasn't until the final track that the crowd really paid attention though; I think that most of the audience weren't aware of their already transformed set, but nevertheless 'Message From Yuz' certainly left nobody standing still. Like 'Lay Down The Law' it's always been a firm live highlight and subsequently a great choice for a previous single, but now... well, now... it just pissed over the whole night. Messy. Opening on a guitar lick that literally made the balcony shake and my feet fall weak beneath me, 'Message...' is one of the biggest rock songs around and with hints at a Beach Boys harmony (hopes that doesn't cause offence as it's meant in a brilliant and positive way) dirtily rubbed against Bryan Ferry lead vocals, it's not one to be hurriedly forgotten. At times these lads sound like The Cribs, but with discharges of petrol soaked raucous like this, there's a whisper that Switches might be the biggest band of summer 2007.
So impressed we were by their new fangled crashes and jingles in fact that we escaped quickly backstage for a few words with them moments after the Kasiers had finished (and yes, yes, we're getting to that!) Storming past a barrage of surprisingly friendly security we worked our way through the tunnels and staircases of Kokos in a Spinal Tap moment of confusion, past a near-deceased and incredibly knackered Ricky Chief, and through a series of unmarked doors that eventually led to where Switches were held up... and the banter ensued thusly:
Rockfeedback: OK, the sound tonight; was that the venue or have you really just taken on this big woof of noise?
Switches' Max: Well, we had longer to work on it tonight, at somewhere like Leeds Festival you're straight on stage, but we had a chance to hone it before we came on here.
Jimmy: But we have been making it sound better all the way through the tours I think.
RFB: Has there been much touring going on, or has the focus lately been on getting the album finished?
Jimmy: Yeah, we've been in LA finishing the album off, our last live date was around...
Matt:... November 21st.
RFB: So with the album done and lingering in the background, and being invited onto something like The Album Chart Show, is this the point where you have to think; shit, now we've gotta make it?
Jimmy: [Laughter proceeds] I think this is the bit where you worry most, is it gonna happen? Is it not? It's not all in the future now.
Matt: Yeah, this is a crucial time for Switches.
Max: Hum, indeed.
RFB: So is that making you more focused on what you're doing or are you trying to distance yourself from the potential of where you could get so it doesn't play on your mind?
Max: I think it's now all engulfing really, that's all I think about at the moment but something like today's a really big deal for us.
Matt: I don't think anything changes the way I think about things, you know, no matter how much pressure's on us we've always got the same goal and that's just to do anything we can to write good stuff. There's a lot of pressure on us at the moment with the album coming soon but...
Max: I'm confident in it, I mean it sounds amazing. We're really happy with it and we've all put a lot of hard work into it.
RFB: And what stage is it at now?
Max: It was being mastered yesterday; we've just got the silver discs.
Matt: [Reaches into pocket] Yeah, I found it.
RFB: I think that 'Message From Yuz' really made people pay attention tonight.
Max: Blew out those 'new years' cobwebs I think.
Jimmy: LA cobwebs! First day back on the job and we're on The Album Chart Show with Griff Rhys and Patrick erm... Patrick Chiefs.
RFB: Did you find it hard to get back into the swing of playing live?
Max: Less hard than it used to be. If it was the same time last year we used to be really ropey, so we we're quite pleased it went pretty well.
RFB: Other tracks that are on the album; are they along a similar line to the stuff we've heard or are you keeping some cards in your pocket for its release?
Ollie: I think there are cards in the pocket... a whole new deck.
Matt: A lot of the songs you've heard were geared up singles so there are some tracks with larger compositions and that's what should set us apart from other bands.
Max: I think the best stuff on the album is the stuff we had more fun with making.
RF: So have you tried to make the make the album flow rather than have it as a collection of great singles?
Matt: We've been saying the album's like a rock thriller, which it could be, but I think there's still 3 or 4 songs on there that link the passages quite well so there are sort of tragic stories hidden beneath more weaving music terrain.
Max: 'Give Up The Ghost' as well is another song we recorded that we got a lot from the production of, we sort of got stuck into it and used a lot of interesting things that perhaps we wouldn't have on a lot of the other tunes.
RFB: You got to work with Rob Schnapf on the production, what was that like?
Max: Mmm, he's very good. It sounds really good, we're very happy with it. It sounds very punchy.
Matt: It's quite a well textured album.
Max: And he's also really fun to work with. I think the important thing is, as well, that we were able to convey all our ideas. Sometimes producers can be quit narrow minded in a way and just want what they think will work where as Rob allowed us to be a part of it all.
RFB: Rob of course worked on The Vines' 'Highly Evolved' which maintained its energy and managed not to become 'over produced' as it were.
Matt: No, exactly! And that's what we liked. Rob Schnapf is like Gods' producer. For us he was anyway. No, I love him... I really do.
So a record label type enters the room, Matt mutters something about being 'worried' about his 'girls', talk of the final mix for the show begins and we retire for some well earned drinks. In terms of the article however, we'll shoot back in time to the Kaiser Chiefs' performance of some long, long awaited new material...
A rather more mature and grown up looking Ricky Wilson took us through what we can anticipate from the second album from one of the most triumphant English bands of the past decade... Let's not forget that the Chiefs took a stab at chaotic and playful power-pop a few years ago and along with putting Leeds on the map, took hits like 'I Predict A Riot' and 'Oh My God' unto the world where they achieved chart topping glory in countless countries... so like The Killers before them, there's understandably a lot riding on their second coming. Where The Killers tried a wee bit too hard, producing an album which was so fiddly you couldn't really get into it, the new Chiefs work is clearly some of their best yet with frolicking vocal n' keyboard based pop songs that are sure to fan the flame for their humungous fan base.
Not so many gritty and dirty guitar riffs (see intro to 'Oh My God') heard at Koko but with a thrust of flailing vocals and 'build 'em up to crash 'em down' arrangements forgiveness is easily issued. In 'Ruby' for instance Ricky has taken a brave stance of allowing his own voice to carry the song rather than relying on it as a means to give the crowd something to shout along with like their previous sway of hits. Ruby is controlled, vicious and darn good, portraying a group who still have something to offer. If you're expecting well mastered and complex rock ballads, as always you're looking in the wrong place as Kaiser Chiefs don't do depth... they do hell raising, fun and catchy pop-rock anthems that take control of your life. The Chiefs are masters at the 3 and a half minute mega-pop-anthem and my god do we love 'em for it... if their new material was 'focussed', 'directional' and 'revolutionary' I don't think it would work. We love these Kaisers because they're brave enough to pooh the belief that we must continuously break down barriers and change music forever. If their new album is half as hook filled and melodically brilliant as 'Ruby', then I'm feckin' chuffed.
However, just while you're getting into that mindset 'Yours Truly, Angry Mob' is wheeled out and adds a little developed songwriting dexterity to the set. A static and bewildered stop-start beginning leads into a menacing side of the band that's seldom seen, made even more sinister with some Beach Boys overtones. You can't help but start comparing them with Switches at this time, a competition that comes startlingly close I might add. It's the second portion of this operatic pop tune that sets it on fire however with a distinct change in key and mood transforming it into an unswerving and passionate standoff between band and crowd. One massive bitch of a shouting match accompanies this song that makes 'I Predict A Riot' look like the theme to Button Moon (oh, that takes me back), and maintains the Chiefs as the leaders, the faultless lords if you will, of modern pop. With their album due out in February, I can't help but think that we've seen far from the last of these lovable scamps.
All together now... "whoooaaaa!!!"