Kasabian: ‘There’s only us, Arctic Monkeys and The Libertines left’

'Where is rock n' roll at the minute?'

Kasabian have claimed that only them, Arctic Monkeys and The Libertines ‘survived’ from the era of 00’s indie rock.

Today sees the release of the band’s acclaimed new album ‘For Crying Out Loud‘. Speaking to us for this week’s NME cover story, frontman Tom Meighan said that he thinks of the band as ‘survivors’ from the wave of UK bands who dominated the guitar indie scene just after the turn of the century.

“There’s only us and the [Arctic] Monkeys left on that level,” Meighan told NME. “They’re great. Kaiser Chiefs too, probably. When we came out in 2004, you had Franz Ferdinand, Razorlight, Kings Of Leon, The Holloways, The Paddingtons, The Maccabees, Libertines had just finished.

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“It was just a f**king good time. We were 22 and there was so much good music. Bands were back, there were loads of rock magazines, indie and rock’n’roll were cool. We survived it.”

Meighan added: “Where is rock n’ roll at the minute? It’s gone, isn’t it? I reckon it’s a mixture of everything. What runs the world at the moment? It’s R&B, pop, solo artists. Adele, she’s amazing…Ed Sheeran. There are no bands. “

Agreeing that only Kasabian, The Libertines and Arctic Monkeys survived the era of 00’s rock into the next decade, guitarist and songwriter Serge Pizzorno told NME: “Interestingly, they are the three – and the best three, which makes sense. We’ve got tunes, and strong, defined characters. Love them or hate them, you’re interested in where they’re going and what they’re going to do.”

“I was chatting to Carl from The Libs, I love Carl so much. When he heard ‘Switchblade Smiles’ he went ‘fuck you’. And we had a laugh and he said ‘The Libs can’t just pull that move’. They are The Libs and have to be just that and we can wonder off. It’s mad because at the time, we came up with those boys. We didn’t appreciate what was going on. They were just a band and we were just a band, but that was such a good album – that first record. It’s always really exciting with them boys.”

This comes after Pizzorno claimed their new album would ‘save guitar music from the abyss‘.

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For more on this week’s NME magazine and where to get yours, visit here.

This summer sees Kasabian perform at BBC Radio One’s Big Weekend, TRNSMT Festival and Reading & Leeds.

 

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