Employment by Kaiser Chiefs
Employment is the debut album by English indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs, released in March 2005 on B-Unique Records. Employment takes its inspirations from the Britpop and New Wave movements, 70's-era punk rock and Beach Boys-esque West Coast music. Originally the album charted at number three in the UK Albums Chart on 13 March 2005, but charted at number two almost a year after its release, due to the band's success at the Brit Awards. Employment went on to become the fourth best-selling album in the United Kingdom that year. It was Kaiser Chiefs themselves that chose to work with producer Stephen Street. According to Street he had been introduced to Nick Hodgson after an Ordinary Boys gig in which Kaiser Chiefs were the support act. Hodgson gave Street a demo CD and said that they would love to work with him. The band's new label B-Unique suggested they try a test session with Street. In mid-August 2004 they visited the producer at a basement studio space at Olympic Studios he was renting with engineer Cenzo Townsend and recorded "I Predict A Riot". According to manager James Sandom in an interview with HitQuarters, the album was recorded in a rush because the band were under very tight time constraints and touring at the time. As a result they did not have enough time to get to know Stephen Street and relax in his company. The motorbike that appears at the beginning of "Saturday Night" is owned and 'played' by Graham Coxon. The sleeve notes read "Graham Coxon's motorbike, (1935 Kaiser 'Chief' 750cc Manx TT Works Racer) appears courtesy of Transcopic Records". "Caroline, Yes" is named in reference to The Beach Boys' song "Caroline, No". The track's original working title was called "Hail to the Chief", according to Kaiser Chiefs' book A Record of Employment.
Even before their near-win of the 2005 Mercury Music Prize, Leeds, England’s Kaiser Chiefs had made an imprint on the alt-pop scenes on both sides of the Atlantic; even Lucinda Williams was heard to sing their praises. “I Predict a Riot,” the lead U.S. single from <i>Employment</i>, their debut, was a long-running rock-radio hit that was pretty much impossible to remove from one’s cranium after a couple of spins. Their brisk three-minute slices of modish New Wave recall everything from the early Who (“Riot”) to Cool Britannia-era Blur (“Oh My God”). <i>Employment</i> also finds them throwing in change-ups like “You Can Have It All,” which could be theme music for a remake of <i>Georgy Girl</i>, and the wobbly “What Did I Ever Give You.”
