Kasbian: Misunderstood? Or as bad as the rest?

Kasabian. What a band, seriously- I think they're brilliant. They're a band who have released two hugely successful albums and established themselves as one of the country's premiere live acts (second to Bruce Springsteen at this years Glastonbury at The Boss's request) yet the four piece from Leicester are regularly derided and dismissed alongside the lad-rock wannabees like The Courteeners and The Enemy. Perhaps it's Tom Meighan's big mouth (too many examples to list, how about comparing Madonna to his old male gym teacher?) or Serge Pizzorno's football skills but the creative and inventive side of Kasabian's music seems to get lost in the tidal wave of tossed lager and column inches that seem to surround them.

I mean, look at that picture above. Contrast it with the grey and predictable promo shoots The Enemy partake in and the differences between the bands become strikingly obvious. Kasabian's music has always had an experimental edge to it too. This isn't going to become an indulgent think piece about how Kasabian are the new Animal Collective, they're not. However listen to 'Stuntman' from the bands second album 'Empire' or 'U Boat' on their self-titled debut and you hear a band indebted to the likes of LCD Soundsystem and Neu! (the band featured on a tribute album to the German pioneers recently) not a band trudging out the same old material time after time. As for their new material, well it might just be their most adventurous to date. Their new album (due June 8th) has the bonkers title 'West Rider Pauper Lunatic Asylum' and songs such as 'Fire' and 'Underdog' certainly help the record live up to the ostentatious title.

It's a shame then that the band will spend much of the Summer touring with Oasis, a partnership which will only compound preconceptions. Maybe one day people will look back and realise that Kasabian are the cream at the top of a piss weak crop of bands they are aligned with, bands who want to write about 'What's really going on'. Kasabian make 'music for the people' but they've got the ambition and scope to look beyond the immediate four walls and go through the looking glass. That's what makes them interesting and deserving of more attention and less lazy dismissal.

So who are the bands you feel deserve a more varied audience? Or the ones who have been adopted by an unlikely group of fans? How about Annie who has been making the chart dominating music of Lady GaGa and Little Boots for years to no avail? Or Gossip, an underground punk band adopted by middle England as their 21st century disco queens? Personally I've always found the dismissal of The Kills as style over substance infuriating as their albums are always the right mix of retro and futuristic excellence. On a more extreme level of acts getting strange audiences did anyone ever see Regina Spektor or Feist turn up on ITV's divorcees club Loose Women? Very odd.

Kasbian: Misunderstood? Or as bad as the rest?