When Kaiser Chiefs released their début album ‘Employment’, I found their music greatly enjoyable. When their second album ‘Yours Truly, Angry Mob’ was released on the other hand, I was actually dreading listening to it having heard and hated first single ‘Ruby’. I wanted to like the album, I truly did, but I just didn’t see it happening as you usually find it to be the case that the first single released from an album is more or less the strongest track. When ‘Yours Truly, Angry Mob’ was released I made sure I listened to it, forced myself to listen to it even; it came as no surprise to me however that I was not liking what I was hearing. The album actually begins with ‘Ruby’, the one track I was least looking forward to hearing having already established that it was not of any appeal to me. When first listening to the album I quickly skipped past ‘Ruby’ as listening to it again was really not something that I wanted to endure.
After first track ‘Ruby’ is out of the way, up next is ‘The Angry Mob’. As the track begins, it reminds me of ‘Bright Idea’ by Orson. The build up is almost identical in fact, and given that Orson’s ‘Bright Idea’ probably appeals to me even less than ‘Ruby’, a track that resembled it so heavily to begin with was never going to go down too well with me. Thankfully, the opening and the occasional guitar riff here and there is the only thing that resembles the Orson track however and for the most part the track is very much their own. Sadly however, the track is hideously tiresome and listening to Kaiser Chiefs front man Ricky Wilson’s droning voice here is not exactly what I would class as entertainment. Whilst in ‘Employment’, the vocals were always injected with a great deal of enthusiasm, there is no such energy at all here and this lacklustre offering is therefore not really worth listening to at all.
Third track ‘Heat Dies Down’ is the first moment where the album begins to show any real signs of being any good. Kaiser Chiefs are here far from their best, however nonetheless the track is interesting and most of all entertaining. I really like listening to this one, and with it’s bouncy edge and Pop appeal is definitely a track which is well worth listening to. Next track ‘Highroyds’ starts off promisingly also with a fun introduction which suggests it will be another energetic piece of music. The energy is sadly short lived and once more the band return to mid-paced mediocrity. ‘Mediocre’ and ‘Average’ are the words that spring to mind first and foremost when I think of this album as a whole in fact, something which makes me wonder if the band themselves are even well aware of given that they have named one of the tracks here ‘Everything Is Average Nowadays’.
Although not a lot stands out about this album, one thing I will say is that the single ‘Love’s Not A Competition (But I’m Winning)’ shows some great unfulfilled potential. The music is sadly devoid of any real sense of life, however the chorus is undeniably catchy and will no doubt have you singing along in no time. It is an interesting one how a band can have such an infectious chorus yet still be so deadly dull but there you go. One of the things I find most amusing about ‘Yours Truly, Angry Mob’ is the fact that the aforementioned track with the title ‘Everything Is Average Nowadays’ is probably one of the best from the album. Whilst ‘Average’ nicely sums up the album as a whole, the track itself is probably one of the only really slightly appealing songs present other than ‘Heat Dies Down’. Whilst the track I feel is still somewhat lacking in energy, this does not stop it from being amongst the best; it’s still average, just a little less so than the vast majority here.
Would I recommend this album to anyone? Not unless you have difficulties sleeping at night. The album has little use other than boring the listener and potentially sending them to sleep if they’re lucky. There are a few signs of promise during the albums thirteen track duration, but not nearly enough to keep a listener interested and intrigued as to what track will potentially come next. There is simply not enough variety here; the lyrics are poor, the vocals tiresome, and the instruments uninspired. Whilst I was a big fan of the first album from the Kaiser Chiefs, if they are ever to release another album the chances are that I shan’t be giving it a listen. ‘Yours Truly, Angry Mob’ is an album to avoid.
Label: B-Unique
Release Date: 26th February 2007
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.