Kaiser Chiefs have stepped back from indie rock ballads and embraced Coldplay-esque pop tunes on their new album, Stay Together. Some might say that they’ve sold out like never before, but since Employment they’ve been trying to recapture what they back in their hay-days of ‘I Predict a Riot’. The band’s short comings in recent years have been embarrassing but their new album, while not being cool, sees the band take on a more pop-infused experimental risk. Kaiser Chiefs are not song writing virtuosos, but they’ve produced an album of harmless pop that is an improvement on their more recent attempts.

Club beats, cheesy lyrics and melodic bass lines come together in eleven Coldplay rip off anthems. ‘Hole in My Soul’ is an overly generic and even cringeyly formulated pop song that is a real stain upon the album. This stain extends and makes itself known on the equally as bland ‘Indoor Firework’.

There are some good moments on the album, however. ‘Parachute’, with its undeniably catchy chorus and pop charm, will no doubt be played in clubs soon and will get the crowds dancing. They step away from typical pop anthems with songs like ‘Good Clean Fun’, an off-beat homage to reggae, while ‘Why Do You Do It To Me?’ is the closest thing we get to the Kaiser Chiefs of old. The highlight of the album comes in the form of the 70’s disco funk of ‘Press Rewind’ – a contagious pop track underlined by a hypnotic baseline.

The infectious beats holding the album together are uplifting and it’s not hard to imagine crowds lapping up this collection of songs on their tour. The album flows a more coherently than their last two attempts and it’s, rather surprisingly, a pleasure to listen to. More importantly, it’s a hell of a lot of fun. Following the failings of the Kaiser Chiefs’ last few albums, I thought ‘Everyday I Love You Less and Less’ summed up my feelings towards the band; however, after hearing Stay Together, I’m not so sure.

Ben Roberts

(Image: NME)