Album Of The Week: Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

Jun 11 2009

Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

This is the third album from the lads from Leicester. With a heady mix of '60s psychedelia, blues, '90s Brit pop and a touch of disco, it's their most diverse album to date. Right from the epic Underdog, through to the discoesque Where Did All The Love Go, new single Fire, to the classic Kasabian of Vlad The Impaler with its samples and angry electric guitars, there's a variety of texture and melody. With West Rider/Silver Bullet, which features spoken word from Rosario Dawson, there's even a touch of the Spaghetti western. Fans will love the album, but with its blend of big beats, ambition, and nods to the '60s, it could change the minds of those who've doubted them up to this point.

Sonic Youth The Eternal MORE Sonic than Youth this past decade or so, the New Yorkers show no sign of giving up or departing from the detuned indie-noise rock blueprint they created 30 years ago. On the contrary, they consistently prove themselves capable of putting on mesmerising live shows and release another great album every few years. Not as immediately accessible as its predecessor Rather Ripped, The Eternal is still full of richly-textured noise, bookish lyrical references and wonderful songwriting.

Client Command THIS is the fourth studio album from the London-based electrosynth pop group, and it should be as popular as its predecessors. Your Love Is Like Petrol and Can You Feel get the album started and they're synth heavy. Don't Run Away is slightly dark and sounds almost industrial. It's clear to see why they're successful in Germany, as their style sounds like it originates from the hedonistic Berlin clubs. It's a strong album and will be popular with their fans.

Little Boots Hands LITTLE Boots packs her debut album with technically-titled dance pop gems such as Mathematics, Tune Into My Heart and Symmetry. Transparent chartbusting Madonna-isms (Remedy) can get a little cloying , but the album is redeemed by the few tracks on which she pushes the boundaries a little (Ghosts) and by the pop sheen of tracks like New In Town and the once-ubiquitous Stuck On Repeat.