Kasabian's Brilliant Cross-Genre Covers

English rock band Kasabian (which currently consists of vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, drummer Ian Matthews and bassist Chris Edwards) are mainly known for their dynamic, intelligent and fast-paced anthemic rock songs, e.g. "Days Are Forgotten";  "Club Foot" and "LSF". David Jeffries has observed that Kasabian straddles the swagger of Oasis, the screech-rock elements of Primal Scream, the thoughtful lyricism of The Stone Roses, and the electronic touches of DJ Shadow. As Kitty Empire notes, their music seems like the perfect setting for a World Cup stadium: loud, anthemic, masculine, propulsive. 

But with their interesting choice of cover songs, Kasabian proves that they can 'genre-switch' quite deftly - their cover of Lana Del Rey's "Video Games" is a soulful acoustic ballad that comes across as assured and confident as it 'worships' the song's offstage love interest. Some die-hard fans may balk at the idea of their favourite musicians going beyond the aesthetic they're known for, but I'm all for variety and experimentation. 

Kasabian's recent cover of Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX's "Fancy" is perhaps even more surprising and unexpected, and they do a great job in converting the electro-hop smash hit to another soulful rock ballad. Some of the general brattiness from the original is lost in the process, while an undertone of melancholy to the lyrical persona's 'high flying lifestyle' is subtly added to the mix.