YMMV / The Kaisers

• Awesome Music: Oh boy, where to begin... for starters, let's split them into the covers and the originals. And let's limit them to five so we won't keep you up all night.
  • Covers: "Soldiers of Love", "Talkin' About You", "The Hippy Hippy Shake", "What'd I Say", "Let's Stomp"...
  • Originals: "Whatcha Say", "Don't You Worry", "She's Only Doggin' Round", "That's My Girl", "Wishing Street"...
• Broken Base: A few hardcore old school beat fanatics didn't take well to the fact that Wishing Street would be released only on compact disc.
• Covered Up: They do such a good job of "Kaiser-izing" most covers that a few, particularly the more obscure ones, are often mistaken for originals.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Kaiser Johnny; the man with the clang! The guy can drum up a storm, and his vocal spots frequently makes him the Spotlight-Stealing Squad. Oh, and there's his nice hat.
• Growing the Beard: With two LPs and a few EPs to their name already, Beat It Up! is considered where they finally came into their own as recording artists. Wishing Street is considered to be this as far as original compositions go.
• Epic Riff:
  • "Watch Your Step". It (that is, Bobby Parker's original recording) was the inspiration for The Beatles' "I Feel Fine", after all.
  • "Valley of The Kaisers", anyone? Dick Dale would be proud.
  • "Squarehead", "Trufflehog", "Paradiso Twist"... any of their uptempo instrumental originals, basically.
• Heartwarming Moments: Not really what they're known for, but there are a few...
  • "Though this cold, dark, fickle world has let you down / Life goes on, like people always say... / Don't you worry / you'll believe in love again someday."
  • Their final album, and as such, the group itself, ends on a contemplative note with the somber instrumental "Little Bird". Its chorus ends with an uplifting cadence; sort of a "We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when" vibe. A love letter to their loyal fans who stuck around 'till the end.
• Memetic Mutation: Strictly limited to their small niche fanbase, but a performance video with Kaiser Matt (1) making a particularly crazy face (even for him) can be found all over the place.
• Narm Charm: Their entire act. It's just plain goofy, awesome fun.
• Replacement Scrappy: Averted. No replacement has ever been considered a bad one; somehow, the group was able to adapt.
• Tough Act to Follow: Not the group itself, but Kaiser Matt (1), whose specific guitar style was a huge cornerstone of the group's early sound, upon his departure. Like stated previously, they were able to adapt, and even got better if nothing else.

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