The reign of British Indie bands dominating the UK Charts continued back in 2006 with the debut album, Inside In/Inside Out from Brighton based band, The Kooks.
The album is full of anthemic summer songs, and the a perfect British festival set in its own right.
The name of the band comes from David Bowie's album 'Hunky Dory' on which he had a song entitiled 'Kooks.' The band themselves were spotted at a festival in Brighton, and instantly signed to major label Virgin.
The album opens with 'Seaside,' a short acoustic song that could have only gone at the very beginning. Very relaxed and laid back - Immense at a festival with the crowd singing along, and the first time Lukes strong vocal abilities are heard.
The album itself reminds me of an holiday I had in Kavos (Greece) in August 2006. The album was the biggest Indie album around at
the time, and played from beginning to end everyday around the pool - Seaside was somewhat fitting for the occasion, and always had the young 18-30's crowd singing along. Great music will always remind you of certain events within your life, and the Kooks summery anthems makes a perfect soundtrack to any holiday.
Inside In/Inside Out kicks up a gear with 'Do You Want To See The World,' which is a strong album track, but nothing exceptional.
'Sofa Song' then follows - One of my personal favourites. This is a great example of what makes the current British music scene brilliant. The band, like every band today, sing with their native accent, and don't try to produce worldwide hits, but songs about the Country they live in. It's a song about that very British thing - A Sofa, and the well thought out title serves only to add to the appeal. Genius!
Eddie's Gun follows, a great anthem with a brilliant summery rift all the way through - i know I've used 'summery' alot, but this really isn't a cold british winters album. The songs fresh, lively, with a real feel-good vibe throughout.
Ooh Laa, is one of the ultimate festival songs of 2006. A great sing-a-long tune, about the breakdown of a relationship. It's essentially a bittersweet love story - "Ooh Laa, she was such a good girl to me, and ooh laa, I just chewed her up and spat her out." For such a young songwriter, this is a brilliant single, and one of the albums stand out tracks.
You Don't Love Me, is followed by probably The Kooks most notable track 'She Moves In Her Own Way.' Along with Naive, this song is what makes the difference between a Top 20 album, and a multi-platinum one. It's the kind of song that you'll hear once and have stuck in your head for a week. The kinda song that makes you want to buy the album and hear what the band are all about.
Match Box is the mischievous Indie anthem, every great Indie band needs. "All of us, we're going out tonight, we're gonna walk all over your cars" says it all really. It's mischievous and cheeky, with a nice little tune, and catchy lyrics.
"I'm not saying it's your fault, although you could have done more." The opening lines of the song that made The Kooks one of the biggest bands of 2006. It's the equivelant to Oasis' Wonderwall. Many bands have a great album, and Inside In/Inside Out, is a great album, but it always takes one moment of pure genius to capture the country, and with 'Naive,' that's exactly what The Kooks did. Anthemic, strong lyrics, excellent tune and brilliant vocals - The song has it all, and it'll be a long time til this is forgotten.
After Naive however, the album drops off alot. The following 5 songs aren't by any means bad, but the album peaks so highly with She Moves In Her Own Way, Match Box and Naive, that what's on offer afterwards feels a bit of a let down. Maybe it's inexperience on the bands part, or a bad producer, but all the best albums have a flow to them, this loses it a little towards the end.
It's not the songs, but the order of them in my opinion. Still a great album, and one I'd recommend to anyone, but one that falls short of the classic mark.
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On their debut album Inside In/Inside Out, Brighton band The Kooks demonstrate a real ... more
potential for greatness. That's because this young band have two crucial things going for them: a wealth of ideas and an awareness of their place in their musical lin...
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Advantages: Upbeat,tuneful rough garage hippie sound.Some strong songs on the album. Disadvantages: They arent really the sort of band that make massive musical waves,although they are charming.
Aug 22nd, 2007
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