Search - Kaisers :: Beat It Up

The Cavern Club, Edinburgh, 1996

Fran Fried | Fresno, Ca. United States | 03/31/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Nothing prepares rock'n'roll fans -- especially Beatle-lovers -- for their first listen to The Kaisers, four lads from Edinburgh who shook the world. Well, at least the world of lovers of beat combos, anyway.

My devastating first experience was this album in '96, followed shortly after by a show at Maxwell's in Hoboken, N.J. -- which has a cramped, narrow, sweaty performance space, kinda like this certain old club in Liverpool, only without all the stonework. This nattily dressed, perfectly coiffed quartet, with its manic, rave-up energy (15 of the 16 songs are under 3 minutes), tight playing and northern British accents, really makes you feel you're experiencing the Cavern Club in 1962, only without all the "Beatlemania!" cheese.

"Liquorice Twitch," "She's Gonna Two Time," "She's Only Doggin' Around," "Don't Come Back" and a couple of slow(er) tunes, "Like I Do" and "Don't Go With Him," will have you doublechecking to make sure you aren't listening to some early lost Beatle bootleg. Bonus points for best use of a pinball machine in a rock song (in the opening instrumental rave, "Whatcha Say?")."