The Leeds Goon Show Revue returns with another single that contains enough hooks to hang an art collection. The opening track from their ‘Employment’ album ‘Everyday I Love You Less And Less’ continues Kaiser Chiefs unabashed looting of 80s influences which will no doubt be dividing opinions up and down the land. So much so that up until now even I’ve struggled to come down on one side or the other, finding myself perched firmly on the fence for their last single ‘Oh My God’, unconvinced that the band were anything more than a passing carnival side-show.
Surprisingly they now appear to have become the main attraction with the debut album reaching number 3 in the charts, an appearance Stateside on The Letterman Show (where they’ve yet to release a single!) and a sold out UK tour. Despite the rapid success there is still a strong whiff of the circus clown about them which may dent some of this bourgeoning goodwill in the longer term. Granted, Kaiser Chiefs are capable of writing a catchy tune but the propensity to over-stimulate their collective funny bone and the lead singer’s permanent look of mock horror has undermined my appreciation of their musical efforts.
That said ‘Everyday I Love You Less And Less’ is easily my favourite of the three singles released to date. Unlike its brace of predecessors the song has managed to not irritate me at any point in its three and a half minutes, possibly because this time around the camp Carry On humour has thankfully failed to overcome the melodies despite its best efforts.
|
It’s another collision of XTC and Madness but ‘Everyday..’ also throws in some early Squeeze (particularly the synthesiser) and some old Boomtown Rats song, the name of which I’m still rummaging around in my head to remember. The singer’s insistence on exact phonetic rhyming at the end of each line (up there with Noel Gallagher’s) is still a distraction but luckily falls short of being just plain irritating, unlike the couplet “Watching the people get lairy / It's not very pretty I tell thee” from ‘I Predict A Riot’. Grrr. Gnash.
So I’m off the fence but I’m not straying too far into Kaiser Chiefs’ playground, still unsure if they’re the best gang to run with and whether this particular bright and shiny toy will rapidly lose its lustre when inspected too closely.
|
