The Kooks – Inside In/Inside Out

You may be wondering why I’m choosing to review a CD that’s been on the market for quite a while now. Well, frankly, I just couldn’t resist writing about one of my new favourite bands. I’ve had this disc in my car CD player for over a month now, and while I feel a little guilty because usually my car is a haven of local music, I just can’t seem to hit that eject button. I’m thoroughly and irretrievably addicted to The Kooks.

The Kooks formed in Brighton, UK in 2004 and Inside In/Inside Out is their debut full length album which was released last year. When their first hit single Naïve made its way to South African shores, I was instantly hooked. My friends and I were also introduced to the need for careful interpretation of the thick accent of Luke Pritchard (vocals & lead guitar), which adds a certain charm to their songs and allows for some highly entertaining misunderstandings – my favourite being one friend’s version of Naïve in which the singer claims he’s “not from Nowowski”…when what he says in actual fact is that he’s not fond of asking. We decided that Nowowski was somewhere in the wilds of Nebraska and never let her live it down. Listen to the song though and you’ll see how she came up with that priceless little mondegreen.

Although I fell in love with Naïve straight away (it’s even my alarm tone!), it took me a while to get around to buying the album. But another friend who generally has the same taste in music as me kept raving about it so eventually I abandoned my whole “try & only buy SA CDs” campaign and went to buy it. Only to discover it was sold out and I would have to wait while they ordered it. So either the store in question didn’t get much stock in, or everyone else figured out way before me what an awesome band this is. I’m open to either interpretation. In any case, it was well worth the wait. From start to finish, this disc is catchy without being cheesy, and has an irreverent, tongue in cheek humour that I love. They very kindly included the song lyrics in the CD sleeve so that not only could I go to my friend and say “see, its NOT Nowowski!!”, I can also sing along quite happily. And sing along is what this band implores you to do with their indie sound encompassing everything from ska to rock. There is a ‘laddishness’ about The Kooks that makes you feel like you could be mates with them, as evidenced in songs with titles like Jackie Big Tits and lyrics like “she pulled those panties down and loved me wetter…” – definitely giving the impression that they’d be quite interesting to hang out with at the bar! Their songs all invite you to sing along but they are diverse in their range from slower-paced ballads such as Seaside to my favourite, Matchbox, which never fails to make me want to drive faster, sing louder, and go out dancing as soon as possible…and if that’s not soon enough, I’ll do a little dance in my car!

So do yourself a favour if you haven’t already got this album – go out and buy it as soon as possible. You won’t be sorry and you won’t be able to stop listening for a very, very long time. Oh, and make sure you check out those lyrics in the CD sleeve before you go belting out any of the songs in public…you’d be surprised at what they really say….