Kaiser Chiefs are an English rock & roll band from Leeds. The group was founded in 1997 and consists of Ricky Wilson (vocals), Andrew 'Whitey' White (guitar), Simon Rix (bass), Nick 'Peanut' Baines (keyboards), and Nick Hodgson (drums). They were named after the South African football club Kaizer Chiefs, a team which former Leeds United defender Lucas Radebe played for. The band are well known fans of United, and on 5 December 2007 it was revealed that the band were to play a homecoming show at Elland Road stadium on 24 May 2008.
The group's debut album Employment was released in 2004. The album was primarily inspired by new wave and punk rock music of late 1970's, and enjoyed international success with sales of over three million. In 2005, the album was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. Kaiser Chiefs' second album Yours Truly, Angry Mob (2007) yielded "Ruby", a number one single in the United Kingdom. They are now confirmed to headline the Friday night of Isle of Wight Festival in 2008.
History
Kaiser Chiefs: A Brief History (1996 - 2002)
Three of the band members, Nick Hodgson, Nick 'Peanut' Baines and Simon Rix, met in the same class at St. Mary's School, Menston just outside of Leeds at around the age of eleven. After leaving school, Rix and Baines went away to university in 1996 whereas Hodgson remained in the Leeds area, meeting both Andrew 'Whitey' White and Ricky Wilson in the mean time, together forming the early beginnings of the band then known as Runston Parva, the name of the band derived from a miss-spelling of the small Yorkshire village called Ruston Parva. However, Runston Parva failed to gain a record deal and on the return of Rix and Baines from university reformed, changing their name to Parva and hoping that their musical career would go beyond the boundaries of Leeds. The band gained a record deal in 2001, but the label went bust soon after, leaving the band desolate and without any direction.Eventually it was decided that the band would keep on aiming for a longer term record deal and started afresh with new songs and a new name: Kaiser Chiefs.The roots of the new name lay with former Leeds United player Lucas Radebe who once played for South African football club Kaizer Chiefs.
Employment (2004 - 2005)
The group's debut album Employment was released in March 2005, being primarily inspired by new wave and punk rock music of late 1970s. The album was well received by music critics, described as "thrilling from beginning to end" and "quintessentially British, without pretension and most importantly, a whole lot of fun".It reached number two on the UK albums chart, and was certified five times platinum. In 2005, Employment was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, an annual music prize awarded for the best British or Irish album from the previous year.
The first single released from the album was "Oh My God" in 2004, which reached number six on the UK singles chart when it was reissued in February 2005. In 2007, the song was covered by Mark Ronson and Lily Allen for Ronson's album Version. "I Predict a Riot" soon followed as the album's second release. In 2007, the song was ranked number thirty-six on the NME "Greatest Indie Anthems Ever" countdown. The top twenty singles "Everyday I Love You Less and Less" and "Modern Way" followed in late 2005. The band opened and performed several of their singles at the Philadelphia Live Eight concert in 2005.
Yours Truly, Angry Mob (2007)
Kaiser Chiefs' second album Yours Truly, Angry Mob was released in February 2007. The group recorded the album throughout the September and October of 2006 at Hook End Studio in Oxfordshire, England. The group took inspiration from Led Zeppelin and American rock music, and recorded over twenty-two songs.Unlike Employment, the album received mixed reviews from critics who found it to be "an album full of jukebox hits" and "predictable". Yours Truly, Angry Mob reached number one on the UK albums chart and number forty-five on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
"Ruby", the album's lead single, became Kaiser Chiefs' first UK number one single. The song lyrics discuss an unbelievable relationship, and its musical style has been compared to Oasis' 2005 song "Lyla". "Ruby" was featured on the 2007 video game Guitar Hero III.
"Everything Is Average Nowadays" was released as the album's second single, and reached number nineteen in the UK. The album's third single "The Angry Mob", described by the The Sun as a "clever, accessible pop" song, peaked at number twenty-two in the UK. The fourth single is "Love's Not a Competition (But I'm Winning)", released November 12.
Third studio album (2007 - present)
Kaiser Chiefs recently scrapped most of their autumn US tour saying they were too anxious to begin recording their third full length album: "We are just really desperate to write some new stuff," drummer Nick Hodgson told Billboard.com. "We don't know exactly what we're going to put out, but it will be next year [...] We're very keen on breaking the cycle of what normal bands do, which is album every two years and tour for a year-and-a-half and take six months to write," he continued. "Not only does it get predictable, it gets boring. A lot of our contemporaries do the same thing." During their UK arena shows in November and December 2007, they debuted three new songs. These may or may not be for their third album. New songs include 'Never Miss A Beat' and 'You Want History'. BRIT Award winner Mark Ronson is reportedly set to be producing the band's third album.Kaiser Chiefs planned to head to a studio in Leeds, England, before the end of 2007 to do some initial groundwork. The band's lone remaining American tour date was September 29 at New York's Beacon Theatre which took place as scheduled. Their most recent European tour began in London on 23 October.
On December 5 news outlets revealed the Kaisers would be playing a homecoming show at Leeds United's Elland Road stadium on May 24 2008. Following in the footsteps of music giants such as Queen, support acts will include The Enemy, Kate Nash and Friendly Fires. According to Q Magazine the band intends to release some new songs through EPs and digital downloads before this gig.
Criticism
Liam Gallagher labeled Kaiser Chiefs "a bad Blur." Ricky Wilson, however, claimed he "was chuffed to bits" to be on the end of one of Gallagher's famous insults. Appropriately enough the album Yours Truly, Angry Mob was criticised by Blur frontman Damon Albarn, who likened it to Blur's album The Great Escape."I've made two bad records. The first record, which is awful, and 'The Great Escape', which was messy. Kaisers' new record sounds a bit like The Great Escape in that it sounds a bit empty. Sometimes records are like that if you try too hard to repeat your success."
The producer of the band's first two albums is Blur's longtime producer Stephen Street, who is also producing Graham Coxon (ex Blur) and at one point during recording sessions brought Coxon to Kaisers Chiefs' recording studio.
Awards
Won
- BRIT Awards - 2006 - British Rock Act
- BRIT Awards - 2006 - British Group
- BRIT Awards - 2006 - British Live Act
- NME Awards - 2006 - Best Album (For Employment)
- NME Awards - 2006 - Best Dressed (awarded to Ricky Wilson)
Nominated
- BRIT Awards - 2006 - British Breakthrough Act
- BRIT Awards - 2006 - British Album (For Employment)
- BRIT Awards - 2008 - British Group
- BRIT Awards - 2008 - British Single Shortlist
- BRIT Awards - 2008 - British Live Act