The Kooks have always been somewhat of a controversial band, to me at least. The Kooks were probably the first indie band that was never independent. By the time they dotted the line with Virgin Records, the majors had learned how to exploit this new wave of guitar driven music that swept across the globe. For some, The Kooks are the quintessential commercial pseudo-indie band. Yet while all this may be true, I can’t help but like this band for the enjoyable music they’ve released over the years. I guess you could call them my guilty pleasure band.
My first real encounter with The Kooks was at an HMV discount table in Oxford back in 2008 where I bought their sophomore album Konk (and also Bloc Party’s Intimacy). Konk had an incredible amount of catchy pop rock songs on it (Always Where I Need To Be, Do You Wanne, Sway to name a few). I haven’t really followed them from thereon out and their 2011 album Junk Of The Heart couldn’t really rekindle my affection. To be fair, it wasn’t a good album.
But now The Kooks return with a new single titled Drown and a new album due for release later this year. For the new album, they have teamed up with hip hop artist Inflo. It sounds a bit strange at first but it turns out to be quite funky. “With this record we didn’t do any rehearsing beforehand,” Luke Pritchard (vocals) comments “I’d write a song with Inflo or on my own, put it up and we’d all play over it. There was a real freedom to the process.” The Kooks have reached that point in their career where they simply had to try on something new to stay relevant. From what I hear on Drown, they may just succeed.
To celebrate the album’s release they will play a rather intimate show at Berlin’s Heimathafen. If my memory serves me correct, the last time they played in Berlin it was at C-Halle. I like the idea of big bands going back to small and intimate shows so here’s hoping this one won’t be moved after all.
