Kaiser Chiefs have said they did not ‘intend or expect’ to rattle the cage of the cycling company Sturmey Archer when using the firm’s logo as its inspiration for the artwork of their new album ‘Education, Education, Education & War‘.
It would seem the band hoped to highlight the traditional British influences which are reported to run throughout their record by aping the familiar design, but Sturmey Archer have failed to take the sleeve as a compliment and instead, in glorious playground style, have renamed the band ‘The Kaiser Thieves’.
“I have worked for the company for more than 40 years and I have never known anything quite as blatant as this,” general manager Alan Clarke told Bike Biz.
The band have responded by issuing their own statement to the NME, which reads: “The lyrics of our new album look into Britain’s past and our designer has deliberately created artwork that references Britain’s heritage. We hoped to pay homage to the legacy of Sturmey Archer and by using this design we did not expect, nor did we intend to upset them.”
‘Education, Education, Education & War’ – which not coincidently is set to arrive just as frontman Ricky Wilson get his teeth properly stuck into a judging role on the BBC series The Voice – is slated for release on March 31st.