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Chiefs bid to take Franz's crown
by Conrad Astley14/ 4/2005
FOLLOWING the success of Franz Ferdinand, the Kaiser Chiefs seem
to be continuing a tradition of bands with a First World
War-inspired name.
The band, who in fact took their moniker from a South African
football club, are well on their way to becoming as big in 2005 as
Franz were last year.
Despite being unknown a few months ago, they have now announced a
second US tour - including an appearance at the legendary
Lollapalooza festival - a series of European dates supporting U2,
and appearances at festivals from Japan to Norway.
Their debut album Employment, produced by Smiths collaborator
Stephen Street, was adored by reviewers, and singles I Predict A
Riot and Oh My God, both impacted the charts.
But the Leeds-based five piece, who also run a club night called
Pigs in their hometown, deny being overnight successes.
Despite still being in their early 20s, band members say they have
been grafting hard for eight years.
They were struggling under the less inspiring name of Parva just
two years ago, before recruiting an art student singer and deciding
on a more fashionable change of direction.
Dubbed post punk and art rock by the critics, even though their
music seems to sound like Parklife-era Blur, or a bit like the
Inspiral Carpets, they have been lumped in with The Futureheads and
Bloc Party as being an integral part of the school of 2005.
The band has also found plenty of fans in America, playing to
delighted fans at last month's South By South West festival in
Texas.
Lead singer Ricky Wilson had to perform the gig hobbling about on a
pair of crutches after slipping and tearing the ligaments in his
foot during a performance in Seattle a few nights earlier.
With this amount of dedication, perhaps the future deserves to
belong to them.
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