Indie landfill act make strong comeback - it's not quite time to throw them on the fire and take the car downtown yet
Are The Kooks a band more sinned against than sinning? They’ve always aspired to the kind of English pop and rock classicism that used to win both critical and commercial kudos - after all, they’re named after a Bowie song and their name is only two letters short of the godlike Kinks.
However, The Kooks’ Brit school backgrounds and seemingly raffish posh boy image often saw them trashed by the critics. They certainly haven’t gone away and are enjoying the kind of indie landfill afterlife that saw them sell out three nights in Dublin’s Olympia last year and draw a frenzied crowd at Electric Picnic over the weekend.
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On their first album since 2014’s brave but misfiring Listen, the Brighton band return with a fresh vigour. As frontman Luke Pritchard said in a recent interview, "We had to get through the rain to reach the rainbow", adding that this new album "had to be our Rubber Soul, Lola, our Definitely Maybe."
A tall order. This new album is a "portrait of modern British life" (the Brexit concept album is bogged down in negotiations, apparently) and it draws from retro sources and rarely fails to deliver strong melodies and festival-friendly chant-a-longs.
Kids reverses The Who’s anthem and declares that "the kids are not alright" with gnarled guitars and lung-busting choruses and All The Time trades it’s shimmering acoustic intro for meaty dramatics.
Believe, a big, lolloping song of heartache shows that they can still write a great pop song and if Four Leaf Clover defaults to Kooks ‘06 and Tesco Disco was perhaps a good song title before it ended up as an average song, the accomplished Initials for Gainsbourg reveals a new sophistication.
If you liked The Kook’s big-selling and infectious debut, Let’s Go Sunshine will give you a nostalgic rush. So not quite time to throw them on the fire and take the car downtown yet.
Alan Corr @corralan
