At the West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum with Kasabian

Have you ever thought you might be losing your mind? If you have or if you just want to find out if you are, you might want to get a copy of West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, the latest CD by the hot British alternative band Kasabian. Then check out the sleeve and instead of info about the contents, what you will find is a list of symptoms for prospective inmates.

So what do you say to the following: I have a floating feeling; Time is passing more slowly than usual; Sometimes a little thing will run through my mind for days and days; The sight of blood does not make me sick or afraid; I would like to be an actor; I have had very peculiar and strange experiences; Even though I know it isn’t true I feel that people are looking at me; I wish I were a child again; I have never cried... etc. etc. Check, check, check, check, check.

And so on down the list, which I found because I was looking for more info about the cuts in the album. I couldn’t make out what was happening with the songs in the usual list. The titles are in a circle sectioned off then classified according to the description of inmates’ behavior in an insane asylum. So you have Underdog under melancholic or Secret Alphabets under sanguine or Fast Fuse under melancholic opposite Hotheaded which is under choleric.

Are you following me? Great, if you are not. Whoever still is, might need to take more tests. I am also glad I’ve stopped trying to make head or tail of what Kasabian is trying to say. That means, yahoo! I do not need further tests. I am sad though I wasted time going over the cover. But that serves me right for trying to find something sane on the sleeve when there was not supposed to be any. It is the West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum so what did you expect?

But loony though it might be, the CD is also by Kasabian and we can expect good music from this band. Previous releases Kasabian and Empire were both brilliant and West Ryder is even better. It is really a surprise that not more is being heard about this group outside its native UK, where West Ryder instantly made No. 1 in the charts. It makes great rock music that is certainly loud, but it is also always catchy and most of all, melodic. This is something that a lot of rock bands seem to have forgotten nowadays. The best rule is you can cuss all you want, make all the noise you want but you will still be a good rock band if you make excellent melodies.

So even if like me you might also waste time trying to decipher what is on the cover, West Ryder is still one album that is really worth your while. The music rocks, soars with heavenly riffs, goes pounding with electronica and at times can be sweet and light as a lullaby. I will not be surprised if some film producer creates a story out of these songs, and then puts it out as a movie with a Kasabian soundtrack.

Fast Fuse is the best of the lot. But you might also like the first hit single Fire, plus Underdog, Where Did All the Love Go? Swarfiga, Take Aim, Thick as Thieves, West Ryder Silver Bullet, Vlad The Impaler, Ladies and Gentlemen (Roll The Dice), Secret Alphabets and Happiness.

Incidentally, Kasabian named itself after the pregnant teenager who drove the get-away car for Charles Manson and his cohorts from Roman Polanski’s Hollywood home after a killing spree that resulted in the death of several people including the director’s pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate.

A choice like that says that the guys who make up Kasabian are indeed a quirky bunch. But listen to West Ryder and you will find that lunatics they might be, but Tom Meighan on vocals; Sergio Pizzorno on guitars, vocals and as head songwriter; Chris Edwards on bass; and Ian Matthews on drums, do make great music.