Kaiser Chiefs' third offering, Off With Their Heads, is nothing short of Britpop bliss. While countless critics will undoubtedly shower this record with endless comparisons to the typical cast of British stalwarts (think the Stone Roses, The Kinks, The Jam, etc.) — and truly those influences are evident — the intrinsic value of this record lies not in its influences but in its potential to push a stale, repetitious, and endlessly imitative music scene forward into the new realms of 21st century progressiveness and compositional possibility.
Following in the recent trend of hybrid collaborations between young and innovative producers and notably successful artists (i.e. Danger Mouse with Beck, The Black Keys and Gorillaz), Kaiser Chiefs, working under the direction of Grammy Award-winning producer Mark Ronson, have found the perfect partner to enhance the lofty pop craftsmanship demonstrated on their outstanding debut release, Employment.
Together on Off With Their Heads, these two creative entites are able to expound upon the base concepts of Kaiser Chief's initial release and the increased musical range and darker maturity demonstrated on sophomore offering Yours Truly, Angry Mob, to create a product with depth, innovation, and accessibility that will, in retrospect, be remembered as one of the forerunners in the blossoming of the mainstream marriage between electronic music and the various sub-genres of rock.
From its opening guitar notes to its beautifully serene finish, Off With Their Heads maintains a successful continuity without sacrificing variety. Merging Ronson's driving rhythmic devices and endless sonic enhancements with the well-established pop sensibilities of Kaiser Chiefs' perfectly crafted hooks and sharp lyrical twists, Of With Their Heads reclaims the progressive approach to pop music — the embracing of technology to produce sound — first forged by the likes of Phil Spector and George Martin.
Where Employment's sardonic tones were coated with a light and almost jovial humor, backed by a more minimalist, New Wave approach to their electronic leanings, this album features lead singer Ricky Wilson slyly working a more cynical and topical brand of commentary over thicker and more complex constructions of sound. Laced with biting humor that asserts an authority and command and establishes a more mature relevance to the tracks, this new voice separates the group from your average Britpop band writing songs simply for the fleeting recognition of the NME charts.