Any press seen about Britain’s “Next Biggest Thing,” Kasabian, invariably spends a considerable amount of time discussing the band’s free borrowing from their pop forefathers: Oasis, the Stone Roses, New Order, Massive Attack, and the like.

Bands going for big sounds that can be heard loud and clear far across the fields at the Glastonbury Festival, feature equally healthy doses of electronica and straight guitar rock. What that press spends hardly any time on is the music of Kasabian themselves, and for good reason: they bring nothing to the table that the aforementioned bands haven’t already served in abundance.

Kasabian starts off well with the pulsing “Club Foot,” featuring a drum swagger lifted from Oasis’ “F— In The Bushes.” But from then on, apart from a particularly bombastic finish to “Reason is Treason” the disc is uninspired.

The other high point of the album is the desolate two-note riff of “Running Battle.”

None of the songs on Kasabian are necessarily horrible — if one is able to ignore the background clatter, the rhythms of “Processed Beats” and “Ovary Stripe” might be decent enough to get some plays on a dance mix.

Kasabian shows a band still stuck, unexcited, in that first stage of development, and until they move past that there isn’t much of a reason to listen to their debut when “The Complete Stone Roses” is still on the shelf.

Grade: C

– Dave Herrera

Movie soundtracks are always a curious thing. They are created as an extension in movie marketing. Just another branded product to bring in more cash for the corporations that release it.

A movie and a soundtrack are like a symbiotic relationship; each one supporting the other so that they are hopefully both successful. The thinking is that if a great movie has a soundtrack, people will buy it because they loved the movie so much that they will instinctively become fond of the music. Likewise, some people organize soundtracks so that if the movie is a hard sell then they can create a soundtrack that becomes so popular that people will see the movie because they love the music so much.

Which brings us, finally, to the soundtrack for “Cursed.” I know you’re probably wondering why that name sounds so familiar. You probably can’t quite put your finger on it. Well let me refresh your memory. “Cursed” was a horror film that recently came out into theaters, lasted about two weeks and quickly faded into obscurity.

As it is, we get tracks from trendy acts like Dashboard Confessional, Alkaline Trio, Bowling for Soup and gusgus. The collection is a misguided mishmash of punk-pop, emo and electronic music. There isn’t an inspired track among them. It is the typical manufactured “hip” soundtrack that you’ll find in the bargain bin about three months from now.

Grade: D-

– Sean Corp