Review Summary: ("...yeezus christ...")
Kasabian have more or less garnered the dubious reputation of being a singles band since they arrived with their pseudo monumental debut. While it always gives the band a sense of reliability when it comes to anthemic and memorable choruses, albums have always been a dodgy proposition. Stripped of the bullsh
it and sporting a sleek minimalist art aesthetic,
48:13 may be the bands most concise effort yet; whether that means much is anyone's guess.
Divided into 3 sections prefaced by rather inconsequential instrumentals,
48:13 benefits from being a lean 10 tracks mimicking their debut. The singles make themselves startlingly apparent- rave ready rhetoric "eez-eh", boastful guitar pieces "bumblebee", "doomsday", "stevie", future live fan favourite "s.p.s."- with the rest of the tracks falling somewhere between inoffensive and uneventful. "treat" is anything but, 7 minutes of Primal Scream-aping rambling intended as a simulation of darkened Madchester. The rather forced penultimate "bow" remains possibly Sergio Pizzorno's biggest musical misstep, a moment of nu-metal radio angst 10 years too late. It's moments like these that detract from the albums otherwise top notch pedigree of influences (Kanye West, punk rock, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Ennio Morricone), itself almost achieving a postmodern observation of British Indie rock in the '10s.
It's a shame, too. Kasabian are well overdue a masterpiece that peers The Libertines and Arctic Monkeys have already delivered on. Their spot atop of Glastonbury's Pyramid stage is no fluke; when he wants to, Pizzorno can write a brilliant and memorable A-Side. Whether this will lead to Kasabian ever creating a masterpiece is debatable;
48:13 remains but a stopgap on the way to Kasabian's inevitably brilliant singles collection.
