Kasabian - Re-Wired

Of all the assorted bands to launch from the swirling maelstrom that was the 2004 UK music scene into the bright spotlights of fame, Kasabian always struck me as the most consistent, the most aware of their craft and the continual creation of songs so replete in mass-appeal that there was never really any doubt they'd ever fade.

Until now, that is. Re-Wired is a sort of first, anxious stumble into that dangerous slope of 'the average' - something Kasabian for so long made a career out of being the polar opposite to. When all around them cloned indie groups were penning the same old drawn-out tunes, Kasabian were infinitely bigger, bolder.

There's a touch of U2's Achtung Baby album to the rough, industrial-scale percussion and the scratchy guitars. Kasabian have always been ones for interesting, involving sonic landscapes, and Re-Wired is certainly not one to break tradition. But the sense of indelible choruses that made that album such a classic, and which previously marked out the stepping stones of Kasabian's discography (Club Foot, LSF, Fire...) - they're gone.

With the Stone Roses reformed - one of Kasabian's most hallowed of idols and influences - the pressure is on. Days Are Forgotten - with its Morricone styled majesty - proved the band definitely still 'had it', so why such a faltering here?

Re-Wired is released on the 21st of November.