Kaiser Chiefs

Managing to briefly convince the public that Britpop still had legs, Kaiser Chiefs were a revelation in 2005 with the frenzied "I Predict A Riot” single and an impressive debut, Employment, which made it seem like the second wave of Britpop was upon us. But as animated as that album was, its effect wore off rather quickly, leaving the band struggling with their relevance, and their sound feeling like a rushed gimmick. Unfortunately, as hard as it tries, Yours Truly, Angry Mob doesn’t extend the band’s fleeting shelf life. If anything, Yours Truly feels overwhelmingly like some kind of attempt to compensate for their debut’s naïveté and vitality. Singer/lyricist Ricky Wilson masks a lot of his browbeaten observations with bursts of energy, like the pitfalls of fame on the Blur-ish "Thank You Very Much,” and the bemoaning "Retirement,” which, if there’s any truth to it, sounds like he’s suffering from "spoiled brat syndrome.” Not to beat a dying horse but even the band’s number one single, "Ruby,” doesn’t quite muster up enough firepower to keep this boat afloat. (It must have been a slow week when that one topped the UK charts.) When Wilson sings, "I won’t be the one to disappoint you anymore,” you get the sense that he’s right, but only because he won’t get a third chance with many of the people who bought his first two albums.