Kasabian Release An ‘Important’ Message To The Cool Kids
MODERN rock ‘n’ roll is in a treacherous place – it is ruled by musicians too masculine and backward looking, while the rest of the world’s genres has mixed it all up.
And without any trace of irony, Kasabian’s furry helmeted Serge Pizzorno has said that rock ‘n’ roll is dying.
Of course, not one to be very self aware, he also thinks he has the answer and wants the band’s new album to inspire a new generation of rock ‘n’ roll bands.
Talking to the Evening Standard, Serge said he thinks there aren’t many rock bands left and that he hopes the experimentation on his group’s new album ’48:13′ will help new bands to look to the future. Of course, there are Bands With Guitars that are looking to the future like Haim and St Vincent, but they’re female-fronted and dismissed by rock ‘n’ roll fans as too poppy or not authentic enough.
“It’s weird to think of ourselves as one of the last rock ‘n’ roll bands around,” he said. “But it’s important because there just don’t seem to be many left.
“This new record we’ve done is important because it’s our best work yet,” he added. “It’s so much a forward-thinking record. It’s a new and futuristic version of a rock band, which is important for kids starting bands, going ‘Ah we don’t just have to do that…we can experiment’.”
So how are Kasabian pushing rock music? Why, they’ve Put A Synth On It.
All bands, when they get to a certain stage of their careers, start Putting A Synth On It, which basically means making the same music as they ever did, but with a nod to some dance music. They usually say something about ‘punk-disco’, which of course, was said by Primal Scream, but also, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet.
While there’s nothing wrong with Putting A Synth On It, what rock is failing to grasp is that experimentation doesn’t lie with a bunch of men, making 4/4 tunes and lording it up and swaggering around like they’re cock of the school. Bands that reinvent have always been gender-benders AND genre-benres (that didn’t work, but you get the idea), from Patti Smith, to Bowie, to Portishead to Aphex Twin… music that was simultaneous feminine and masculine, switching roles as per mood or song.
What Kasabian have done is… well… made a Kasabian record. Blokey. Boorish. Boring.
Posted: 29th, May 2014 | In: Music Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
