Kaiser Chiefs

Considering how successful their debut was and how carefree their bop-'til-you-drop melodies are, these Chiefs sound awfully pissed off. Underneath a rocking bed of boyish hooks and echoes of nearly every Brit band that has graced the cover of NME is a glum group ranting about relationship woes, boredom and social pressure. You'd never guess it, though, as they muscle over all that cynicism with an abundance of razor-sharp tempos and short-and-sweet, sing-along anthems. These tunes are sure to ignite arenas full of giddy Anglophiles.

Two years back, these leeds, england, boys blew up at home with a debut that fused New
Wave and Brit pop with an emphasis on big, freewheeling grooves -- and hooks. No major
changes for their second album. Yours Truly, Angry Mob is one of the catchier guitar
records you'll hear all year: First single "Ruby" bounces along to a thick, nth-generation riff
and Ricky Wilson's suave croon and exuberantly plaintive chorus, and stuff like "... More >