Kasabian: Flying the British Flag

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"It’s about time a British band came [to America] and just took over," said Meighan in a February 2005 Spin interview.

"Fuck the Americans. I’m sick of your fucking three-minute, skuzzy garage rock shit. Stick it up your arse, mate," said Meighan in NME.

Ah, the swaggering, piss-in-your face cockiness, the no-holds-barred pompous humor, the musical spectacle. All this and with a killer debut album ready to knock you off your senses – a true kick up the ass or, as the British would say, your "arse." Enter the world of Kasabian, a band that gives rock ’n’ roll a new twist.

Storming from Leicester, England, a suburban city entrenched in raves and hardcore in the early ’90s and music that mixed house, hip-hop beats and electronic rock, Kasabian – Tom Meighan (vocals), Sergio Pizzorno, (lead guitar, keyboards), Chris Edwards (bass) and Christopher Karloff (guitar, keyboards) – has instantaneously conquered Britain and been dubbed the next big thing in British rock since Oasis.

The band took its name from Linda Kasabian, the Manson family’s pregnant getaway driver. Mirroring its namesake, Kasabian possesses a superfluous attitude, boisterous swagger, confidence and a massive fan base.

"We’re fun-ky! I think it’s the rawness, y’ know, we’re really raw, [a] very suburban band. It’s just really hard-hitting – can’t believe how edgy it really is," smirks Meighan.

The Kasabian gang first developed when Meighan, Pizzorno and Edwards, all childhood friends, seriously embarked on making music at 17. They soon snagged fourth member Karloff in a local pub.

As retro garage rock was starting to make waves, the ambitious gang attended a party at the Farmhouse in Rutland, England, and ended up talking the landlord’s son into allowing them to stay and write music for their debut album.

"We went to a party there and there were a lot of rooms that were spare … We needed to get away from the city and move to the country to get our heads together so we could concentrate on making this beautiful album."

As the months progressed the youthful foursome picked up an array of musical influences.

"It was just a mishmash of everything – the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix," says Meighan.

"We just wanted to make a beautiful, psychedelic album. The first part of the album is industrialized, really hard-hitting, and the second part of the album is hippie spaced-out.

"We love Motown music, we love blues music. All aspects of music influence, [whether] it be a blues record or a jazz record or an electronic record, man, we fill it all into one bowl and we mix it, y’ know – we bake a cake, see what happens."

Soon after its 2004 UK release, Kasabian’s self-titled debut marked a blistering spot at No. 4 on the UK charts and was certified gold in a mere two weeks before hitting platinum. The just-released fifth single from the album, "Cut Off," marks the highest-ever singles chart debut at No. 8.

The album boasts an adrenaline rush of snarling, prickling and bursting electro-rock in a psychedelic fusion of guerrilla chaos. Protruding from this sound is stoned, ’60s flower power, ’80s prog-rock mixed in a collection of thrilling beats and guitars reminiscent of the Verve and Oasis.

"Cut-Off" is about a scientist who gets so stoned on LSD that he bombs a train: "It’s just a mishmash of a load of words and it’s just a psychedelic funk-beat song," says Meighan.

"Processed Beats" is a mix of socially conscious references, though Meighan scorns being labeled as a political band: "No, we’re not politics, man! When we’re writing the album we’re pretty fucking wide. We’re just talking about the world today and what’s going on."

Following their debut album’s March 8 U.S. release, the Kasabian lads will fly their "We’re the best band in Britain" flag down to the U.S. for a spring tour statewide.

"There’s nothing challenging the throne of rock ’n’ roll," said Meighan in New. "It needs fucking with. And we’re going to fuck with it."

Kasabian’s self-titled debut release is currently available. Kasabian will perform with The Music on March 12 at the Henry Fonda Theatre, in Los Angeles, and at this year’s SXSW Music Festival, in Austin, Texas, on March 18. Kasabian will also make their U.S. television debut with a performance of "Club Foot" on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on March 10. For more information, visit www.kasabian.co.uk.