By the time main writer Nick Hodgson left in 2012, Kaiser Chiefs were already looking like yesterday's Britpoppers. So the last thing anyone would expect is that the Leeds lads would come charging back with their best album since their hit-packed 2005 debut. The songs on EEE&W tackle the thorny subject of war with a mix of Monty Python surrealism, angry-mob apoplexy and It Ain't Half Hot Mum silliness. The Factory Gates, Misery Company, Ruffians on Parade and Bows & Arrows deploy an arsenal of hooks, riffs and singalong lyrics. Coming Home may not challenge Elbow in the emotion department, but it's still a mobile-phones-in-the-air moment. There's an added surprise at the end of the climactic Cannons: Bill Nighy reading a poem called The Occupation. Sounds like they've found their voice again. kaiserchiefs.com

Download tracks: Coming Home, Misery Company, Cannons