Album Review: Kaiser Chiefs - Souvenir: The Singles 2004-2012

First released in 2004, Kaiser Chief's inaugural single, Oh My God, set them up for a hugely successful career that has seen them sell over six million albums worldwide and produce four studio albums: Employment in 2005; Yours Truly, Angry Mob in 2007; Off With Their Heads in 2008 and last year's The Future Is Medieval in 2011.

Their latest release, Souvenir, documents all their big singles up to this year, and starts where it all began, crashing in with Oh My God, followed straight up by big hitter, Ruby, which sets the rocking tone for the rest of the album. The Chiefs' quintessential British-ness really shines through in I Predict A Riot, Everything Is Average Nowadays and the mob mentality anthem, Angry Mob, where they bring to the fore the real feeling of Britain's disparaged youth. A number of songs from the latest album, The Future Is Medieval, make an appearance, including Little Shocks and Man On Mars, which have a much more refined sound to their earlier recordings but don't quite pack the same punch. The band's latest track, Listen To Your Head, the token exclusive single for a best-of album, is a distinctly different, more pop-driven sound with electro-sounding synths and vocal effects.

Love's Not A Competition and You Can Have It All give a down-tempo reprieve while Kinda Girl You Are wraps the album up nicely. Souvenir is a solid reminder of just how much great music has come out of the Chiefs over the last eight years and makes us hope that there's plenty more to come.