Kasabian

In 1969, 20-year-old Linda Kasabian came to California to find God. Instead, she found Charles Manson.Just weeks after joining his ragtag “family” of lost and damaged souls, Kasabian was entwined in the brutal bloodbath that became known around the world as the Tate-LaBianca murders. Actress Sharon Tate and six others were killed under orders from Manson during a two-night rampage that would terrify Los Angeles and bring the 1960s to an abrupt and grisly end.Kasabian, who went on to serve as the chief prosecution witness…

When Kasabian sacked their singer, Tom Meighan, the day before he was convicted for assaulting his partner, bandmate Serge Pizzorno stepped up from the ranks as a readymade replacement. The dark-featured, bearded guitarist has always been pivotal to the band’s image and joie de vivre, and his 2019 solo album and tour gave him a chance to test out his skills as frontman.Here, the man who once scored a perfect volleyed goal on live TV while wearing winkle-picker shoes isn’t fazed by the prospect of facing a vast arena. He…

You come to a new Kasabian album with expectations. Subtlety is overrated. Your rabble will be roused. Song titles sound like things you’d hear shouted outside the pub at closing time: Wasted, Are You Looking for Action?, You’re in Love With a Psycho (all from 2017’s For Crying Out Loud).Singer Tom Meighan’s sacking in 2020 for spousal abuse hasn’t hugely altered these assumptions, even as songwriter turned frontman Serge Pizzorno promises new directions. This is continuity Kasabian, with super-producer Fraser T Smith…

Kasabian always seemed dependent on the chemistry between Serge Pizzorno and Tom Meighan. Pizzorno wasn’t exactly Thom Yorke, pushing the band into wildly uncommercial directions and trusting the audience to follow, but thanks to his musical curiosity and willingness to stray from lad-rock’s desire lines, Kasabian’s catalogue has always had plenty of moments capable of raising an eyebrow. Meighan, on the other hand, provided the visceral connection with their fanbase – the simian frontman in the Liam Gallagher mould, the…

In the summer of 2020, a few weeks after firing their frontman Tom Meighan for assaulting his then-fiancee Vikki Ager, the two remaining founder members of Kasabian met up and asked themselves: “What now?” Radio stations had stopped playing their music. All the success of the past 17 years – during which the Leicester group became one of Britain’s biggest bands, with five No 1 albums, plus a debut that went three-times platinum – felt suddenly tainted. Winding things up seemed the next logical step, given they were now…