IN REVIEW: Kasabian - "48:13"

For years, as a Canadian, it's been difficult to sing the praises of Kasabian; despite scoring major commercial and critical successes on their side of the pond, the North American market has remained stubbornly and bafflingly apathetic. With the release of 48:13, the British psych-electro rockers have seemingly thrown in the towel on their overseas endeavours, opting (at time of this review, at least) to not release the album in North America. It's inconvenient for me to have to use the UK version of Amazon to keep my Kasabian CD collection up to date, but certainly no more inconvenient than signing distribution deals and logging those hard promotional appearance miles in attempts to break into a market that doesn't seem to want you.

So yes, Kasabian has postponed any plans for U.S. domination on 48:13, instead bolstering their ranks on the home front. They play the biggest gig of their lives at the end of the month, headlining the final night of the venerable Glastonbury Festival in front of over 100,000 people (yes, Americans, they are this popular). It doesn't take long to hear your potential set opener; after a quick intro track, Bumblebee stomps and howls its way toward Armageddon, bursting with big sounds and threatening to tear itself apart with its own denseness. Each and every arena-filling trick in the book is employed inside of its four minutes, and it's pulled off with stunning aplomb.

Elsewhere, the big hooks and slick grooves that they're known for aren't in short supply; this is particularly true of Treat, a stretched out and weirded up little brother for 2004 smash Club Foot, and Eez-eh, the earworm-inducing lead single that takes a few spins to do the job but does it very well once it's in. There's also Stevie, which rides in on a dreamy orchestral intro before settling in on a fuzzy groove and a sharp processed beat. Explodes is another highlight which finds them taking the sound in a more cinematic direction.

Never content to stay with one vibe too long, 48:13 does feature its share of twists and turns, with varying levels of success. Doomsday is a peppy oddball of a tune that conjures a post-apocalyptic beach party in my mind. Closing track S.P.S. (Scissor Paper Stone) floats along with a hazy acoustic and lazy shuffling beat, but is a winsome dénouement for the album. Glass aims for an eerie cool but doesn't go very far beyond pedestrian electronic pop until the guest verse by spoken word artist Suli Breaks. It's a good enough verse, but it doesn't quite vibe with the music, especially when the music unceremoniously drops out; the desired effect was probably to draw more attention to his words, but it just sounds like the band gives up, leaving Suli to his own devices for the last twenty seconds.

Clouds is the requisite stoner track, this one taking place at a shopping centre of all places; it's got a pleasant enough vibe, but the litany of silly druggy lyrics (e.g. "Where do you go when you're underneath the rainbow?") is sure to induce eye rolling from anyone whose eyes aren't red and puffy. Kasabian has endured criticisms of their lyrics from the start, but in many cases the quality of the music has glossed over that, or the lyrics weren't as bad as people said. That said, there are a few lyrical moments on 48:13 that don't necessarily ruin their respective songs but do dampen the enjoyment of them slightly for people like me who consider lyrics important.

Then again, 48:13 isn't designed for me (and not just because I'm Canadian); this is an album built for massive crowds with outstretched hands and voices hoarse from screaming along to Shoot The Runner, Fire and (soon) Bumblebee. Kasabian doesn't provide a very good or cohesive record here so much as they fill the coffers with festival material, which should make Glastonbury a great time but won't make for many repeat listens at home save for its five or six highlights.

June 9, 2014 (UK) • Columbia

Highlights Bumblebee • Explodes • Eez-eh