THE KOOKS – KONK

(AU magazine May 2008)

(Virgin)

There’s something unintentionally funny about The Kooks. Well, one must assume it’s unintentional – it seems unlikely the young Brighton foursome said ‘We’ll get way more coverage if one of us goes out with a really asinine warbling wench. Ooh, and how about we sing really funny?’ And yet, this is the case. Luke ‘overshadowed by his ex’ Pritchard leads up The Kooks, with his strange, sort of wobbly vocal that sounds like he’s singing underwater.
After a debut album of massive appeal, ‘Konk’ is little more than a retread, but it’s not offensive. They make pleasant pop to fill the airwaves of local radio, on show here in the guise of ‘Always Where I Need To Be’ and ‘Do You Wanna’.
If you like your rock with smooth pop edges, you could do a lot worse - not least because singing along is hilarious.