Kasabian – ‘Kasabian’ (RCA) Released 06/09/04

When I first heard ‘Club Foot’ I nearly cried, in fact I nearly pissed myself with excitement. Surely Kasabian (named after one of Charles Manson’s girlfriends that grassed the fruit-loop killer up and helped put him behind bars) were the saviours of electro-rock as far as the UK were concerned? A genre that had previously been carelessly shat upon by the big-beat bands of the late nineties.

Not one to get too carried away I obsessively delved and dug out ‘Reason is Treason’ a song I’d previously heard, enjoyed and then forgot about. Of course then there was always ‘LSF' another fantastic baggy outing. ‘Processed Beats’… ace, ‘I.D.’ – moving. Kasabian, oh lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?

“No I fucking won’t Andrew, as I am not the lord and saviour of your beloved electro-rock, I am but a humble five trick pony.�

Despite moments of utter brilliance (and OK they look pretty cool and have supermodels like that dirt Kate Moss chasing after them) Kasabian disappointingly veer off the straight and narrow more than once. Even cunning production techniques sometimes can’t hide a sallow indie song or third rate Verve pastiche - even with the best of intentions.

Yes ‘Running Battle’ is vacuous shit, ‘Test Transmission’ is Bob Dylan in digitally enhanced clothing and ‘Butcher Blues’ is a stupid name for a song (as well as being a sub-late-Charlatans turgid, boring blues workout), but you can’t take away from this band their moment’s of brilliance when they have them.

For when they shine, Kasabian are the Happy Monday’s if they’d have stuck with Andy Weatherall and Sean William Ryder could sing (god forbid). They’re like the Beta Band if they weren’t a bunch of nobby art students that didn’t stick to the script. They’re Primal Scream before and after the embarrassing dalliance with rock.

There are some worthy tunes on this album, so take Kasabian's advice and buy this album or they might â€˜K-I-L-L-you’.