Fresh out of Brighton, East Sussex England, British indie rockers The Kooks are back with their brand new studio release, Junk Of The Heart. The follow up to 2008's Konk finds the band not deviating much from their harmless blend of indie rock to a receptive and enthusiastic crowd who has followed the band actively ever since they released their debut album in 2006, Inside In/Inside Out.
The album starts off with the refreshing and invigorating title track as its first single. The song starts off with a pleasant, upbeat acoustic guitar riff and the fantastic lead vocals of frontman Luke Pritchard that makes this song so upbeat and indelible that you'll have it on repeat for quite some time as you enjoy the last days of summer. "How'd You Like That" adds some piano melodies into the mix and they blend in together quite well with the cavalcade of guitars, drums, and Luke's warmly inviting vocals that make you want to continue listening to the album. "Taking Pictures of You" is an acoustic based, mellow tune that features delicately tuned guitar patterns that sound smooth and go down quite easily like a fine bottle of wine. The next track "Fuck The World Off" is actually a pretty pleasant sounding track with the guitar melodies and Luke's melodic vocal style adding plenty to be desired on this track despite its harsh sounding title.
We start off the disc's second half with "Runaway", an upbeat, guitar driven track that produces a bevy of other instruments as well including a violin if you hear very closely in the distance, a dense and layered track that allows you to dissect each part and listen to it independently. My favorite track off the album is "Is It Me", a melodic, bombastic delight with frenzied guitars, great drum patterns, and Luke's extremely comforting vocals making you fall in love with this track almost immediately upon impact. "Petulia" is a warm and inviting track that again shows off Luke's beautiful and laid back vocal style that you will definitely swoon over the first time you hear it, a remarkable listen all the way through. We head into the disc's final two tracks, "Eskimo Kiss" an extremely upbeat and melodic tune that will have you singing along and bopping your head along at the same time, and "Mr. Nice Guy", a piano fueled romp that does a great job of bringing in sounds heard at various points earlier in the album and bringing them all together to create a synopsis of all the instruments that we've heard so far on this disc. When I first heard The Kooks 5 years ago, I feel in love with the band almost immediately with the overall simplicity of tracks that relied heavily on acoustic instrumentation and Luke's smooth and melodic vocal delivery that made the songs really stand out. I'll be seeing these guys in concert on November 19th at the House of Blues and I can't wait to see them in concert and what the new songs sound like performed live.
All in all, a respectable effort from The Kooks, four good looking British chaps who have a knack for crafting highly infectious melodies and basing a majority of them around simple acoustic guitar arrangements and amazing vocal patterns.
Album Score: 3.5/5
Track Listing:
- Junk Of The Heart (Happy)
- How'd You Like That
- Rosie
- Taking Pictures of You
- Fuck The World Off
- Time Above The Earth
- Runaway
- Is It Me
- Killing Me
- Petulia
- Eskimo Kiss
- Mr. Nice Guy
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