Product Description

'Konk' is the second album from Brighton-based indie-popsters The Kooks. Produced at Ray Davies famous studio of the same name, the album is a sprightly-yet-assured follow-up to the platinum-selling 'Inside In/Inside Out'. Includes the single 'Always Where I Need To Be'.

Track Listing

1. See The Sun
2. Always Where I Need To Be
3. Mr. Maker
4. Do You Wanna
5. Gap
6. Love It All
7. Stormy Weather
8. Sway
9. Shine On
10. Down To The Market
11. One Last Time
12. Tick Of Time

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40 in Music
• Released on: 2008-04-14
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced

Amazon.co.uk Review
Konk, the second album from indie pop starlets The Kooks, will appeal to those who enjoyed the catchier, hookier elements of their best-selling debut Inside In/Inside Out. For the band are more "pop" than "indie" this time around, and Konk is an overt attempt at winning even more chart-topping kudos: and it's not a bad attempt at that. Recorded over a six-week period at the end of 2007 (in Ray Davies' Konk Studios in London), the album's first single "Always Where I Need to Be" is as insouciantly catchy as a contemporary rock band can get, while tracks like opener "See the Sun," and "Mr. Maker", with its infectious hand claps, are equally accessible. There's tougher fare like "Sway", which show the boys can blast it when they want, but the album generally plays it safe, grappling (clumsily in places) with themes of love and sex, and revealing not a great deal of musical or lyrical depth in the process (see "Do You Wanna"). The album runs out of steam towards the end, and though fans of their earlier material will love it, fussier indie fans will probably point their ears towards something less contrived. --Danny McKenna

CLASH MAGAZINE
"The Kooks restore your faith in British pop"

About the Artist
`The greatest records in the world can be put on in any situation: you can put them on at a party and they're going to sound great, you could put them on in a club and they're going to sound great, you could put them on on your headphones and listen in bed. That's when you get a great album,' says Luke Pritchard. `And that's how I like to think of this album.'

The Kooks are back. 2006's Inside In/Inside Out was a huge hit, selling some 2 million copies worldwide, spawning massive singles `She Moves In Her Own Way', `You Don't Love Me', `Sofa Song', `Eddie's Gun', `Ooh La' and especially `Naïve' - after which the album took on a whole new life of its own. The Brighton quartet quickly rang up sell-out shows not just in the UK but in America and all over the world, earning a support slot with The Rolling Stones along the way and categorically establishing themselves as A Great British Band.

Singer/guitarist Luke, lead guitarist Hugh Harris, bassist Max Rafferty and drummer Paul Garred quickly came to be regarded as a classic British song-writing outfit, able to stand alongside The Kinks, Oasis, Coldplay or any number of others you care to mention, simply because they understand what makes pop music great.

`If it doesn't make you feel good, then what's the point?' says Luke. `There's too much drab shoe-gazing shit around. I hate all that cack. You've to push through it. That's where you get great songs.'

`Music should make you happy,' concurs Hugh. `It should change you in some way. That's why our fans are so crazy and committed. There's that connection.'

`We give people a great night out,' continues Luke, who's still only 22. `That's the whole point. And I probably buzz off the crowd more than they buzz off us. Music's all about getting everyone together. How can you be cynical when you're at a festival and there's 20,000 people - all different kinds of people; young, old, black, white - and everyone's singing the same songs?'

Anyone who's ever enjoyed (a) pop music or (b) a good night out, has plenty of reason to cheer when it comes to Konk, The Kooks' second long-player, recorded over six weeks at the tail-end of 2007 in Ray Davies' Konk Studios in north London, plus a week at Los Angeles' Sound Factory. The sessions once again united the group with esteemed producer Tony Hoffer (Beck/Air/The Fratellis). Luke: `It was brilliant. It was like a school reunion. Tony's a genius; he's a really talented guy and he's fun to be around. We had the best time.'

While James Brown's Live At The Apollo classic `I'll Go Crazy' provided daily in-studio listening, end-of-session downtime was spent in the local Irish pub, The Kooks' soon making friends with the locals. `The owner would give us a lock-in,' says Luke. `We'd end up having a drink with all the Irishmen.'

`I just started thinking how cool the studio is,' says Hugh, by way of explaining how he came to suggest the album title. `And how much of a part of our sound it is.'

Indeed, in Konk The Kooks' fanbase will find plenty to recall the freewheeling spirit that made Inside In/Inside Out a true word-of-mouth success - one of those rare cultural phenomena that grew and grew the more people heard it - while others will be aware just how much they've subtly upped their game. `It sounds big,' says Luke, someone not given to over-analysing the process, preferring to let the songs speak for themselves. `We thought a lot more about production. It's a second album and we'd done a lot more touring and recording [by that stage]. We tried to make a dynamic album where every song has its own little world. That was the philosophy.'

`We always have so much material,' says Hugh, of the set that includes songs dating back to Inside In/Inside Out to others written a fortnight before the sessions ended. `As a songwriter you need to get things down. Making an album has become such a big thing now. The Kinks used to do two albums a year. The Rolling Stones would go and cut a single - plus a b-side - between tours. Some of that immediacy gets lost today. But we've made a really great record that I'm really proud of it. I'm not ashamed to say that.'

While `Gap' is classic Kooks, a song like `Shine On' finds Luke exploring hitherto unchartered lyrical territory over the loveliest of melodies. It's destined to become another lynchpin in The Kooks' live set. `We've never done a song like that before,' he says. `A lot of people might think its quite standard, but when you listen to it, it's not. It's a really weird little tune. I'm really pleased with it.' Then there's `Always Where I Need To Be' a tumbling rocker with a `do-do-do, do-do-do-do' refrain that might just be the catchiest thing they've ever done. `Sway', meanwhile, provides an early album highlight. ``Sway' is one I always go back to,' says Luke. `Hugh's guitar solo is genius - I don't even know how he did it, even though I was there. And obviously the words hold a certain thing for me.'

2008, then: it promises to be another stellar year for the fourpiece. `We came through [in 2006] with some great acts - Arctic Monkeys, Amy Winehouse, Beirut - but, for me, last year was a really wishy-washy time for bands,' says Luke. `It feels like the time's right for us to come back.'

With shows already lined up in places as far afield as Dubai, Brazil and - oh yes - Hawaii, not to say some very special UK venues (`We want to do things differently,' says Luke. `Some of those arena venues... who wants to see a band in a tin shed?') plus a truly magical slot at The Isle Of Wight Festival, the outlook for the boys' 2008 is sunny.

`We've made a really good album,' concludes Luke. `I love the idea of people putting it on in their bedrooms, then going mental.'

`I hope that everyone puts it on,' he says. `And it makes them feel great.'

Let the good times roll.

Customer Reviews

Real hit and miss stuff.
The kooks' second album was always going to be extremely difficult. The task in hand was to prove the critics wrong, maybe do something a bit different so as not to be labelled 1-trick ponies, and most importantly to keep the massive fan base which they had built on the back of their debut 'inside in/inside out'. Whether they have achieved any of these is debatable.

The album starts out in promising fashion with the two guitars being used in `see the sun' infusing together to make a catchy, instantly lovable pop-rock track which forces you to come back for another listen. This trend continues with the catchy lead single `Always where I need to be' which has you singing "do-do-do, do-do-do-do-do, do-do' in the irritatingly catchy chorus. The lyrics are however strange and a bit nonsensical to me. i.e. "I ask to be her hummingbird, whisper words in her ear". I don't know what this is supposed to mean but I'm not going to look into it in too much depth.
The next track `Mr Maker' is completely different being a lot mellower and subtler than the two opening tracks. It is one of the better tracks on the album, not being so brash and in your face and but will still have you singing along.
In all honesty the album goes downhill from this point on starting with the downright bland and forgettable `Do you wanna' which will bore you after a couple of listens. The next track `Gap' sees Pritchard and co trying too hard to connect with their critics and come across as not being pretentious glory hunters ("Don't heap this praise on me, I know I don't deserve it" he drones in the dire chorus).
The next few tracks do bring back some rays of sunshine to a sky appearing ever cloudier. `Love it all' is a laid back ditty, which will have you singing the chorus for several hours afterwards. `Stormy weather' brings flashbacks of the foot stomping, likeable indie rock, which made millions fall in love with their debut.
The next couple of tracks- `Sway' and `Shine on' are miserable pieces of work; instantly forgettable. I still question why the latter was chosen as the 2nd single as it is one of the weaker tracks on the album.
`Down to the market' is a half-decent track, but comes across as a lazy attempt as it is so samey and has no features that distinguish it from the other tracks.
`One last time' simply doesn't work. In his vocal work, he is trying too hard to make it appear that he is not trying hard. The flaws continue with the (supposedly) final track `Tick of time'. The sound quality is very poor (whether it's supposed to be or not, I'm not sure).
There is a hidden track called `All over town'. I'm not going to go in depth with it but let's just say it is hidden for a reason!

Overall, there are some catchy tracks, but too many mediocre ones to give the album any more than 3 stars. Who knows, maybe the ones I don't like will grow on me. I'll give them a chance.

This is basic pop music, nothing more nothing less
The Kooks can certainly churn out a radio friendly pop tune, but they're really a singles band not an album band. The album gets a bit boring after a while, there's not much depth to it. The musicians sound energetic and the singer delivers his tunes very well, although the lyrics aren't the most intelligent to say the least. All in all a decent pop record but not a classic.

Perfect Summer pop!
Whilst perhaps not as full of immediately infectious tunes as "Inside In/Inside Out", this is nevertheless a gorgeous album of pop with a "summer feel". The music is bouncy, happy and makes you smile - it is just the perfect antidote for the blues.

Once again the guitar playing is superb and the lyrics are excellent.

If you liked "Inside In/Inside Out" then you won't be disappointed by "Konk" - wonderful!