"Never dream that the party’s over,” Ricky Wilson repeats at the end of Lucky Shirt — one of many perky, hummable tunes on the seventh Kaiser Chiefs album.
By rights the party ought to have been over for his Leeds band when chief songwriter Nick Hodgson waved goodbye in 2012, yet here they are, still headlining arenas and apparently without a care in the world on a rowdy collection that has no time for boring ballads.
Duck has been billed as a more personal album than the sharp satire of past work, but from that meaningless title down the listener is more likely to notice the jokes than any tortured lyrical confessions. Target Market, the lone slower one, is a love story told through the Dragons’ Den language of business meetings and Powerpoint presentations.
On Wait, a strong contender for catchiest track amid stiff competition, Wilson is an end-of-the-pier Jay-Z, singing: “99 problems and every single one with a flake”. Having tried their hand at electronic pop with Girls Aloud’s production team on their last album, Stay Together, here the guitars are back at the front. They even manage to touch on Foo Fighters territory (their occasional touring buddies) when Wilson finds a rare rasp on the air-punching chorus of The Only Ones.
Otherwise, there’s plenty here to maintain the band’s undying appeal in concert. People Know How to Love One Another and Golden Oldies are particularly fine-tuned for a singalong. That party will carry on for a good while yet.
