Off With Their Heads

Performer: Kaiser Chiefs
Artist: Sway; Lily Allen
Engineer: Chris Barrett; John O'Mahoney; Raj Das; Jan Petrov; Neil Comber; Samuel Navel; Tim Goalen; Geoff Foster; Mark Ronson; Tom Morris; Eliot James; Cenzo Townshend
Producer: Mark Ronson; Eliot James
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Lily Allen, Sway (vocals); Pigott Smith, Tom, Rosemary Warren Green, Debbie Widdup, Jonathan Evans Jones, Thomas Bowes, Ralph De Souza, Peter Hanson, Ian Humphries, Helen Paterson (violin); Jon Thorne, Andy Parker, Garfield Jackson (viola); Tony Lewis, Paul Kegg, Jonathan Williams (cello); Dave Guy (trumpet); Mark Ronson (agogo); Dave Lloyd (djembe); Lou Hayter, Anne Marie Chirema, Sarah Jones (background vocals). Audio Mixer: Andy Wallace. Arranger: David Arnold. Less than two years after the release of their 2007 sophomore album, YOURS TRULY, ANGRY MOB, the Britpop act Kaiser Chiefs shook off that record's lukewarm reception and issued the fine back-to-the-drawing-board outing OFF WITH THEIR HEADS. Aiding the band in their sonic shift is in-demand producer Mark Ronson, who gives HEADS an immediate and layered aesthetic much in the vein of his work with Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen. In fact, Ms. Allen, who has been known to cover the Chiefs, pops up on the Madness-like "Always Happens Like That," one of the album's high points, along with the driving, New Wave-tinged "Never Miss a Beat."

Rolling Stone (p.126) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS is great British pop in the dynamic lethal-irony tradition of the mid-Sixties Kinks, the early Jam and, with that vintage-New Wave tone of Nick Baines' keyboards, XTC's 1979 album, DRUMS AND WIRES." Rolling Stone (p.91) - Ranked #21 in Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums Of 2008 -- "[With] ingenious hooks and irresistible surge..." Alternative Press (p.146) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "'Addicted To Drugs' is brilliant, from its cheeky quotes of Robert Palmer's 'Addicted To Love' to Wilson's darkly comic portrayal of junkies in love." Mojo (Publisher) (p.104) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]heir third album is again packed with the sort of boisterous melodies and niggling synth-hooks that can top charts and fill stadiums." Clash (magazine) (p.121) - "'Half The Truth' somehow pulls off a charming Blackpool pier sound and even concludes with a little unexpected grime."

One of many young U.K. bands to grab the spotlight in the mid 2000s, the Kaiser Chiefs play catchy, madcap Brit Pop, perfect for a Saturday night out. Unlike their peers on the scene, the Kaiser Chiefs have a goofy charm that plays off the styles and sounds of the '70s U.K. power-pop movement. Their single "I Predict A Riot" wouldn't be out of place on an early XTC album or as a b-side to "Starry Eyes."

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