REVIEWS

Kaiser Chiefs,02, Dublin

IT'S THE return of Leeds' own likely lads, and the not-so-angry mob are out in (mild) force to witness another lap of honour from the torchbearers of Britpop. The pretenders to Blur's crown are still a bankable proposition, and though the O2 is not quite bursting at the seams, it is brimming with anticipation of a riotous night of sing-along fun. But it seems such a long time ago now since the dogs on the streets were howling along to I Predict a Riot, and there's a sense that the Kaisers are crashing a party that's already moved on to the next neighbourhood.

Thursday night's gig at the O2 highlighted the band's numerous failings, but also reminded us of their greatest strength – a knack for coming up with catchy tunes that connect directly with the crowd's frontal lobes. Though their new album Off With Their Headsis a bit bereft of killer hit-singles, it at least sees the Kaisers trying to find some interesting corners in the terrace-anthem cul-de-sac they've got themselves boxed into. Good Days Bad Days, You Want Historyand Can't Say What I Meanmay not have the most memorable tunes, but they make rather fetching fillers in between the better-known songs. Never Miss a Beat, though, makes a clumsy stab at connecting with their young audience, only managing to slightly graze its target.

While the Kaisers do the five-go-down-to-the-pub routine very well, they're a little uncomfortable outside their jokey-blokey comfort zone, so they lay on the beer-frothed irony and steer largely clear of bigger social and personal issues. Everything is average in Kaiser-world, and that's just the way the fans like it. The Modern Way, Every Day I Love You Less and Lessand Love's Not a Competition (But I'm Winning)win over the crowd hands-down, but it's the quickfire repetition of Ruby that really gets them jumping. I Predict a Riotproves a predictable enough climax, after which singer Ricky Wilson disappears from the stage and reappears on a podium in the midst of the audience. It's a measure of his averageness that it takes the crowd a while to realise he's not some bloke who climbed up on the mixing desk – they wouldn't have made that mistake with Brandon Flowers.