Empire building
IN THE POST-BRITPOP milieu, dozens of British bands have faced comparisons, willingly or not, with the movement's founding fathers Oasis. None has courted it more brazenly than Kasabian, nor has any been so anointed by the Gallagher brothers in return. Whereas previous heirs apparent such as Ocean Colour Scene, Kula Shaker, Travis and Embrace have trodden the same route of 60s pop-inspired stadium-friendly anthemic rock, Kasabian's first album of psychedelic dance pop bore far less resemblance, instead shimmering with echoes of those other famous Manchester bands the Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses, as well as Primal Scream, the Rolling Stones and even DJ Shadow.
Kasabian's connection was more on a character level. It came from their musical chutzpah, rock'n'roll antics and a tendency to shoot off their big mouths. What's more, guitarist and songwriter Sergio Pizzorno was proclaimed the new Noel to swaggering singer Tom Meighan's Liam. It's a comparison that neither minds. 'Everyone growing up in the 60s, 70s or 80s had their heroes,' says Meighan, speaking from Australia, where the band is playing the Big Day Out festival. 'Ours was Oasis. That's the reason we formed the band. They were the reason why in the mid- to late 90s everyone we knew was trying to be in a band.'
Such is their confidence that the day Liam Gallagher walked into their dressing room after a gig and proclaimed himself a huge fan, Pizzorno put it down to inevitable fate. They have since become firm friends with the Gallagher brothers, and Kasabian supported them on tour in the US. 'Undoubtedly they've had a massive influence on us,' says Meighan, who for all his reputation as a snarling, monosyllabic star comes across as far more personable than the brawling Oasis frontman. 'Liam and Noel have supported us and taught us a lot. We learned a lot from them on that tour,' he says.
Nonetheless, Kasabian arrived in Australia for their debut tour without being banned by the airline that flew them, as Oasis did a decade ago after causing mayhem on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong. Neither has Meighan - yet, anyway - broken a photographer's nose with a punch as Liam did on that same trip. The Britpop Godfathers' influence, thankfully, is evident more in the music of Kasabian's second album, Empire, released last year, than in newspaper headlines. Although their 2004 eponymous debut sold one million copies and topped the British charts, Meighan describes it as a 'funky little electronic' record, and Pizzorno has called it 'psychedelic dance ... like the Beatles, DJ Shadow and the Chemical Brothers'. Having turned out a rash of dance-infected hits such as LSF, Club Foot and Processed Beats, Meighan says there was little point retreading old ground. Many critics had suggested that they'd have the longevity of a mouse in a snake tank, but Empire confounded them. Or, in the cocksure words of the band, 'we blew them away'.
Although the music was far more rock'n'roll, it retained elements of dance, while throwing in soaring choruses and everything from Ennio Morricone horn riffs to Moroccan rai instruments that sound like Indian sitars. 'It's the most decisive answer you could give [to the detractors],' says Meighan of Empire. 'The first album was a cult thing. The second is a commercial, critically acclaimed album. It has huge rock'n'roll-style songs. We just went into the studio and made the best record we could. We surpassed everyone's expectations. People weren't ready for a strong second album.'
The album's grandiose name was backed by hyperbole from the band themselves, who labelled it an instant classic. This may have been a ploy to ensure it got the initial airplay they felt it warranted. 'It's called Empire because I've been using that word as slang for years to mean good,' Meighan says. 'It's funny how it's been interpreted.