West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

A soundtrack for an imaginary movie from Kasabian

The British rock band Kasabian has released its third album with an attractive title West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. It has taken the team two years to record it after the 2006’s release of Empire. It was awarded with Best Live Act at the 2007 NME Awards. Every album of the band has its own idea. For instance, Empire was focused on the horrors of war and the problems of waging it; West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, as the name itself states it, is focused on the insanity topic. West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum was a mental institution built in England in 1800; it was later renamed and closed in 2003. In the interviews the band members define each track as representing the inner world of one of the institution’s inhabitants. Thus the choice for the album cover art characters’ costumes is clear – Napoleon, a priest, a prisoner and, perhaps, Henry VIII. Guitarist and vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, the author of almost all the songs on the record, characterizes West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum as a soundtrack for an imaginary movie. Who knows, maybe these guys would like to try themselves in some new field? The producer of the album was Dan Nakamura (Dan The Automator) known for his work with Gorillaz on its first album. It may be said that their collaboration was successful – the record comes up as energetic and various.

Weird romantics on West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

The album opens with Underdog, the video for which was shot even before the album’s release. The track is indeed worthy of being the first – here we can find everything that is characteristic of Kasabian – a heavy processed beat, blurred electronics, harsh guitar riffs and the band’s front man Tom Meighan’s slogan-like vocals. The curious thing is that Underdog was used by Sony in it’s Bravia commercial that also featured Kaká, Real Madrid player. The song Fast Fuse was also spotted outside of the music arena – it was used as a soundtrack for the new computer game FIFA’09. It starts with a tempting electro guitar which is later accompanied by the dynamic drums and altogether it sounds as real classic rock infused by the memories of The Rolling Stones epoch. Take Aim presents Sergio Pizzorno’s vocals for the first time on the record. The composition starts with the horn-string improvisation a-la Morricone that goes throughout the whole song and sometimes it is broken by crispy percussions. The song Thick As Thieves is a lovely indie-sample, it opens with a steady beat and unhurried mariachi-style acoustic guitar solo. The next track West Ryder Silver Bullet starts with Hollywood star Rosario Dawson hair-curling voice that sets the atmosphere for the whole composition. This song fits perfectly in the major trend of the album – weird and romantic. The video for Vlad The Impaler features Noel Fielding from The Mighty Boosh as the main character and Richard Ayoade as the director, who is known for The IT Crowd sitcom. The closer Happiness is worth mentioning for it is a calm and relaxed song with the gospel elements and it has already been compared to the Primal Scream.

The new album turns out to be continuous and integral

Having called their band after Linda Kasabian, Tate-LaBianca massacre participant, the musicians go on shocking the public: Kasabian has chosen the name of the asylum from all the possible titles for the new album. As Tom Meighan himself says, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum is a good tongue-twister. Speaking of the album’s wider concept he says that West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum has resulted to be continuous and integral, all the songs hook to each other and there are no gaps between them. The band has done a good job creating insane images, the album’s sound is slightly reminiscent of the earlier Kasabian but it’s absolutely different from the first two records. Though having been often compared to Oasis, Kasabian makes its own way. Actually enjoying brothers Gallahers’ support, it creates individuality in rock-industry. The most famous band’s fan is, probably, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who once admitted that he likes to start his training listening to Club Foot. Though meeting the guys personally Arnie was slightly shocked by their appearance – all four of them together weigh almost as California governor himself. Nevertheless, it does not prevent Kasabian from creating wonderful music and proving to everyone once more how one can self-improve with each of the following releases.