Despite my affection for “Club Foot” and interest in what the rest of their music was like, at the time, I was forced to avoid Kasabian’s self-titled debut album in 2004 because of that irksome Copy Control nonsense. Fast-forward to 2009, Copy Control has long dissolved, and I have obtained Kasabian, their second release Empire (2006), and have just heard The West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum (release 6/8/2009; update: you can currently stream it in full at their MySpace Music page!).

This is where Kasabian’s long-running undercurrent of psychedelia fully rises to the surface, without doing away with their club-friendly catchiness and electronics. Yes, this time around, they are more than a neo-Primal Scream (Kasabian) or neo-Oasis (here’s looking at you, Empire), and even more than something to dance to, though I defy you to resist the urge to tap along to the majority of these tracks.

The whole of West Ryder had the distinct feel of a soundtrack or concept album…and it turns out “it’s intended as the soundtrack to an imaginary movie”! The songs blend into each other seamlessly from the get-go, with brilliant album opener, a kind of “Club Foot” Pt. 2, “Underdog” (currently being used for a Sony Bravia commercial), “Where Did All the Love Go?” (with some particularly fine songwriting from Serge Pizzorno), and moody instrumental piece “Swarfiga”.

“Fast Fuse”, an quick-paced, garage-y stomper, and the acoustic, very British “Thick as Thieves” (complete with some “la-la-la-la-la”s) previously appeared on the Fast Fuse promo in 2007, though now they are clearer and more polished. “Take Aim” is awash in mystery and high drama, Western-style. “West Ryder/Silver Bullet” is the heart of the material here, with an unsettling audio clip at the start (“Then, I went down into the basement, where my friend, the maniac busies himself with his electronic graffiti…”), with guest vocals from actress Rosario Dawson, and serves as an epic album centerpiece. Electro-blastin’ “Vlad the Impaler” might have been more in place on Kasabian’s debut, but the album is so strong overall, there’s nothing the matter with a brief revisiting to previous styles.

“Ladies And Gentlemen (Roll the Dice)” is the calmest track here, a brief rest before the very, very groovy stand-out “Secret Alphabets”. “Fire” is a wise choice for a single, though containing only a fragment of what West Ryder is about (the psych-Western portion, specifically). Last track “Happiness” smacks strongly of Spiritualized, though that doesn’t take away from it’s sentimentality, which is certainly there.

If they would let go some of their grandiosity and slipped further into shaping their own identity, Kasabian, a band who are still, essentially, finding their sound, have the potential to release a truly great album. The West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum is a positive step on the way there.

Kasabian - Official Site | on MySpace Music