It came as surprise to me when Kasabian, a band I was sure was dead in the water after former frontman Tom Meighan’s domestic abuse case went public, were getting back together to tour and make new music. It wasn’t very hard to imagine the direction the band was going to go in without Meighan though, with former guitarist turned frontman Serge Pizzorno already Kasabian’s long-term songwriter and frontman of his own side project THE S.L.P. He has even sung on many a Kasabian track in the past, but the sharp left turn they have made into further mediocrity with their first single back is… all too predictable.
ALYGATYR starts off like any other over produced, uninspired modern “rock” song (and I use that in the loosest of terms). With an opening line of “Get paid, role like an alligator, too hot to touch like a radiator” it’s really quite surprising that they manage to sink even lower. In fact, the song has a middle section that genuinely feels like Pizzono is trying to be… Britney Spears? But from Leicester and with a beard, obviously. It sounds ridiculous, but the vocal melody is one that has been ripped straight out of any middle of the road mid-00’s female pop icons greatest hits. It is truly something that needs to be heard to be believed.
Naturally with any Kasabian single it isn’t unreasonable to say that live this song would probably be quite a show. Unfortunately, not in the same vein as their best of this style, Fire, Bumblebee, Club Foot etc. It’s not that I’m saying ALYGATYR is a bad song compared to their past work, that is too kind. ALYGATYR is simply just not a very good song, independent of any contextualization.
It remains to be seen if this is the exception or the rule for any further projects going forward but with a couple of massive headline shows already lined up as well as some even bigger support slots for Liam Gallagher in the summer of 2022 one things for sure. No one’s opinions matter, Kasabian are back.
