Kasabian haven't been the underdog for quite some time now. With two top five albums in their back pocket it was a strange choice of title for the opener of their third long player, 'West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum'.

You get the impression that's how this gang feel about themselves though. Hard done by; bullied by a middle class press all too eager to write them off as pub rock louts (maybe stop licensing your tunes out to every new gangster film that comes along Serge?). Perhaps, but they certainly deserved a kicking after the travesty that was 'Empire', so having very much enjoyed the eponymous debut it was time to see if they were truly in it for the long game or just a few free beers and a ride around the block on the Gallagher's coat tails.

Second song 'Swarfiga' is more like an interlude than an actual song but does a nice job in setting the tone with its creepy guitar sounds and pulsing beats. Kind of a welcome to the Asylum thing going on and it leads us into 'Fast Fuse', which I can already hear mashed up festival crowds chanting back to Tom and Serge as they throw shapes on stage. It's got one of those "stomper" guitar lines that people love shouting, 'Nah nah nah' whilst also complimenting and easing the pain of the insanely cliched lyrics.

Let's talk about the lyrics for a sec. I have no idea how they get away with it. 'Take Aim' has the line, "...feeding the cats to the mouses.." while the lead off single cuts to the chase and goes straight for that old rock 'n roll standard talking about how on fire they are. Shit, they even call the track 'Fire'. In the face of such brazen use of rock bylaw you have to say fair enough, how are you going to use it then? The answer is, for the most part, pretty well actually.

'Thick As Thieves' goes straight for the Oasis vote (and gets it) with a reinvention of 'The Importance of Being Idle' and does as little for me as the original. Next song 'West Ryder Silver Bullet' however is a different story. It starts off with a vocal sample from the film 'Sans Soleil' and employs guest vocalist Rosario Dawson who brings a refreshing female voice to proceedings. In fact, the whole song has a very Sergio Leone feel to it and is one of the most interesting things the ''Bian' have ever done.

Of course Kasabian don't want to go disappointing the old guard, so it's back to the distorted guitars and big beats for 'Vlad the Impaler' where we are instructed to 'Get loose, get loose' like Baggy was still the thing you wanted to tell people you were into.

They do calm things down again though with 'Ladies and Gentlemen (Roll the Dice)', a bitter sweet three and a half minute slice of melodic philosophy that they pitch just right even if Tom Meighan does sound half stoned or asleep when he tells us to, 'Wakey wakey rise and shine...'.

Then it's time for a bit of a wander on 'Secret Alphabets'; one of four songs to top five minutes but the only one to really make you feel it. That's when they hit you with 'Fire' bringing things crashing back to familiar territory before the final song 'Happiness' demonstrates Kasabian's dreamer soft side again with a triumphant Rolling Stonesy ode to everything actually being all right really, replete with gospel choir. A real winner.

So it seems like the bombastic beats of LSF, whilst not having been deposed completely, have been off set somewhat by a glance over their shoulders at how some of the old boys did it - hackneyed social commentary et al. Kasabian then have moved forward by taking a step back - things are definitely looking up.