The Kaiser Chiefs - Employment (B-Unique) By Steve Rudd

This Leeds outfit has become very, very famous in what seems like a very, very short period of time. The scale of hype around these guys has come to rival the hype that has surrounded Franz Ferdinand over the past year. In a coincidental parallel to the Franz boys, these Chiefs - just like those FF guys did last year - have recently been on the NME tour, which has consequently secured the guys legions more loyal fans.

No wonder then that this album has been so long-awaited and eagerly-anticipated. Twelve tracks are on offer, and to be routinely feasted upon, with Everyday I Love You Less And Less kicking the LP off with its high-voltage shock of synth-soaked pop music that is riddled with an exhilarating sense of rock 'n' roll spirit for the masses. Allsorts of influences perk up when you least expect them to do so throughout the album, and in some spurts The Kaiser Chiefs: sound like 80's throwbacks hurtling headlong into the future of Brit-rock like there's no tomorrow. Their I Predict A Riot and Oh My God single releases have instantaneously become classic anthems, and both obviously feature on this album, with the upbeat pop-rock vibes that bounce out of the speakers and around the room being so radio-friendly there's no wonder that almost all of our fine nation's radio stations have thrust such tunes onto their play-lists with unflinching gusto. Band front man Ricky Wilson sounds brilliant, and dresses sharp on gig-nights. Who'd have thought that this young man used to sing Rolling Stones covers before The Kaiser Chiefs: - who are named after a South African football team - entity came into being?

Stephen Street's fantastic production skills ensure all these songs sound timeless, with Na Na Na Na Naa proving to be three perfectly rounded minutes of sheer bliss, You Can Have It All being a relatively chilled-out respite from the band's most rocking moments and Born To Be A Dancer basking in its exhilarating marriage of Nick Baines' keyboard melody and a wicked guitar riff. Meanwhile, Saturday Night oozes decadent glory and Team Mate exudes a certain Blur-esque quality.

The Kaiser Chiefs:, in their quirky and fun-fuelled ways, have understandably been compared to the likes of Madness. They really are a sight to behold on stage, and they have - in Employment - proved that the day jobs of all band members will long be directly associated with the making of crowd-pleasing music. So why not stuff your 9-to-5 and follow in their footsteps?

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