Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Kooks, The
Label: Virgin Records
Release: 2014
Runtime: 38:23
Rating: 4/5
Does anyone here still remember the euphoria from two years ago, when the band’s show at CUK Kino Šiška in Ljubljana sold out almost two months in advance? No wonder. The Kooks, one of the most prominent acts of the so-called second generation of Brit pop, are enjoying huge popularity these days. The fourth album from The Kooks (in ten years together) keeps all the hard-earned credibility of their past catalog.
With »Listen« (the title rightly hints at a creative push toward even more radio-friendly material), the band continues its sonic and stylistic evolution. The good three years since »Junk of the Heart« have done the band good. In terms of ideas and artistic output, »Listen« catches a fresh wind in its sails and delivers a product that shamelessly oozes retro sound, yet bursts with cleverly refreshed musical substance that holds on to the band’s charisma. This time around, the band brought in an English producer who goes by the artist name Inflo. A Londoner by origin, he mostly made his name on the scene producing hip-hop albums, and given the direction mapped out for the new record, The Kooks needed exactly that kind of “guide” and conductor in the studio. The band has widened its expressive range by putting most of its creative attention into building flirty rhythms packed with disco-tinged funk and R&B-style danceability. The sonic picture is craftily filled out with extra sub-rhythmic patterns. The touch of a new conductor’s baton at the production controls brings “deep experimentation” with rhythmic suspension into the character of every track (added sub-rhythm loops, and the last track, Sweet Freedom, rests purely on a programmed rhythm loop (the lead beat) – it doesn’t need organic drums at all). The band has also grown in how it uses extra vocal harmony arrangements, so that you can pick up gospel flavors at several points on the album (the opener Around town, the album’s first single Down, and the intro to Bad Habit).
»Listen« may have a different character, but it’s still instantly recognizable as a The Kooks album, above all thanks to Pritchard’s vocal trademark of “teenage mutation”, delivered in a higher-pitched, nasally whimpering style, now and then adorned with a veil of hoarseness. Besides his usual good looks and neatly styled hair, it’s Prichard, first and foremost through his vocal quirks, who is the main magnet behind the band’s commercial charge, which kicked off with the debut released in 2006. The Kooks are an interesting phenomenon. They come across as sugar-coated, but never cheap, tearful or naive! Everything they do keeps a clear, tangible stance of artistry in the musical content, defined by recognizability. That goes for the new album too, which brings a new musical transition.
In Forgive & Forget you can quickly spot “borrowing” from the biggest hits of The Inxs, and that feeling can’t be escaped by the funk- and R&B-heavy first single Down either, where I’m hooked above all by the instantly contagious value of its “stinging” chorus, nor by the track Sunrise just before the album closes. The band often fills out the background of the sound with a backdrop of synth curtains, intensifying the musical value of trippy moods built on disco-minded rhythms (Are We Electric, Westside). It Was London is definitely a special detour on the album, as The Kooks took the lead guitar phrase (in the verse and chorus) straight from The Rolling Stones (the backing is filled with pasted fragments of short guitar solos, which is a rarity on the album). Even Pritchard’s vocal sounds irritated and biting here. Into the arrangement of the closing Sweet Emotion even a touch of smooth jazz (keyboards) “sneaks” in.
Modern Brit indie pop rock can gratefully take on plenty of musical experimentation, especially when it’s implemented so that the band keeps its distinct character, while its artistry reaches a new, higher level of musical evolution. The Kooks still pull that off with dignity, now with the refreshed musical charisma of »Listen«.
Line-up
Luke Pritchard – vocals, guitar
Hugh Harris – guitar
Peter Denton – bass guitar
Alexis Nunez – drums
Production
Inflo, Luke Pritchard & Fraser T. Smith
Track list
1. Around Town (4:10)
2. Forgive & Forget (3:57)
3. Westside (3:30)
4. See Me Now (3:01)
5. It Was London (3:13)
6. Bad Habit (3:40)
7. Down (2:41)
8. Dreams (3:00)
9. Are We Electric (4:06)
10. Sunrise (3:14)
11. Sweet Emotion (5:11)
