Stream the new Kaiser Chiefs album

As posted Monday, the Kaiser Chiefs somehow managed to keep their new album Yours Truly, Angry Mob from leaking for an unprecedented amount of time. The album is out on Monday in the UK and you can stream it now on NME.

Yours Truly, Angry Mob

I have to say that after the first couple of listens, I'm not very impressed. It seems to be missing all of the fun elements that made their debut enjoyable (not necessarily great, mind you). There are a handful of good songs such as "Ruby" and "The Angry Mob" but also some really bad ones like "High Royds" and "Thank You Very Much."

Kaiser Chiefs Tour Dates

Taking Me Back (Thank You Kaiser Chiefs)

I have to say that I'm impressed. Kaiser Chiefs' Yours Truly, Angry Mob is out in the U.K. next Monday, that's February 26th (3/26 in the U.S.), and there is no sign of it anywhere on the internet. No leak to speak of. As far as music goes in the mid-00's, this has to be some sort of record right? And I think this is great, a total throwback to the days when we didn't hear an album until it hit shelves. Now of course, this isn't quite a perfect scenario since there is a month lag between the U.K. and U.S. release dates but I have to give the band's management credit for keeping this one under wraps.

Right now, at least from what I can tell, the only place to preview some additional tracks is at AOL Spinner.

Kings of Leon and Dinosaur Jr. are slightly less fortunate. Both Because of the Times and Beyond have hit the WWW. The albums won't be available until 4/5 and 5/1, respectively. I've taken an early look at both and the new Kings of Leon seems a bit uneven at times but they have a knack for coming up with sick stand-out tracks and right now, that's "Knocked Up" and "McFearless." As for Dinosaur Jr., I'm not as familiar with their past work as I should be but if this album doesn't conjure up memories of the guitar-infused rock of 15-20 years ago, then nothing will. And it's glorious...

Download two songs at P4K.

Kaiser Chiefs NA Tour Confirmed

As reported by NME, the Kaiser Chiefs have confirmed additional dates for their April tour first mentioned a month ago. For those of you on the fence about attending, this thing just got a hell of a lot more intersting with the announcement of the opening bands. The Walkmen will be supporting on ALL shows and the Annuals, who really impressed me during the BV CMJ show, will open on all dates from Philly to Toronto. Another solid, up-and-coming band, The Little Ones will open the remaing dates.

Philadelphia Electric Factory (April 6)
Washington 9:30 Club (7)
Boston Avalon Ballroom (9)
New York Roseland Ballroom (12)
Montreal Spectrum (17)
Toronto Kool Haus (18)
Chicago Vic Theatre (20)
Minneapolis Trocaderos (21)
Vancouver Commodore Ballroom (24)
Seattle Showbox Theatre (25)
Portland Crystal Ballroom (26)
San Francisco Warfield Theatre (27)

I'm not sure yet but it looks like tickets go on sale this Saturday. There is a pre-sale at NME beginning tomorrow.

The link.

Kaiser Chiefs, Arcade Fire, and Bobby McFerrin Raped My Grandmother

New Kaiser Chiefs at Neiles Life if you can brave the Grey's Anatomy discussion.

New Arcade Fire at I Guess I'm Floating. Cream yourself with the masses in the Comments section: "epic", "so solid", and "awesome". There was also a reference to Celine Dion in there to even things out...

Kaiser Chiefs Coming Back to the States

Next in line for "[insert British buzz band] set to release second album," the Kaiser Chiefs will be returning to North America for a quick tour (more dates coming?) to once again prove their worthiness. Response to this band is always going to vary greatly but I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed their live performance last year.

Judging by the capacity of these venues (in parentheses), the band are confident that I'm not the only one awaiting their return.

April 13 - New York: Roseland Ballroom (3500)
April 18 - Toronto: Kool Haus (2200)
April 20 - Chicago: Vic Theatre (1300)
April 27 - San Francisco: Warfield Theatre (1500)