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The Kooks - Konk
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The pressure might be on The Kooks if they had exploded like Arctic Monkeys, but their 2006 debut Inside In/Inside Out was a slow-burner in more ways than one. It came as a surprise to most observers at the end of that year when it emerged the band had only been outsold by those Monkeys and TV soundtrack mainstays Snow Patrol – The Kooks had made a blindside run.
The staggered release of radio-killers ‘Naïve’ and ‘She Moves In Her Own Way’ kept the punters idly picking up the album, and some aggressive pricing did no harm; still, another steady mix of hits and unchallenging extras should keep the end up in 2008, without resorting to pyrotechnics. Second album syndrome? No problem.
On first listen, Konk’s reined-in flavour is hard to swallow. Songs merge into one - single ‘Always Where I Need To Be’ leading a host of tracks with apparently no more ambition than much of the debut’s filler – and standout melodies are upsettingly elusive. But it repays perseverance: Luke Pritchard and his kooky Kooks crave your patience.
Sidling out of the shadows, ‘Gap’ shows off its lightly funky jangle while ‘Sway’ boasts a bracing chorus to unite a festival near you soon. The effortless summery sing-song of ‘Shine On’ is devastatingly obvious but devastating all the same. Elsewhere there’s a bruising confidence to ‘Mr. Maker’ and ‘Do You Wanna’ – the latter asking, “Do you wanna make love to me?” and tempting a “No thanks, sullen schoolboy” reply – that makes you wonder how on earth they’re going to fit all that new-found muscle in their skinny jeans.
The lyrics are astonishing, mind. “Yes I like stormy weather… but you ain’t so clever,” reveals Pritchard. Later he confides, “A, B, C, D, E, F and G/That reminds me of when we were free”. Some deft use of a rhyming dictionary, sure, but the words land with a clunk.
It’s no deal-breaker, though, and as the tiresome “hidden” track turns out to be a rather pretty and soulful folk ballad, you’re left thinking The Kooks have made the tiniest of steps forward. No risks, no disasters.
Matthew Horton
