Inside In/Inside Out review

Inside In/Inside Out furthers the feel-good vibe surrounding The Kooks

The Kooks are from Brighton, UK, they are named after a David Bowie song and they write great British pop songs. The first time that quartet played together, they knocked out a cover of The Strokes’ Reptilia. They’ve come a long way since then, becoming darlings of the music press, and backing up the coverage with impressive supporting slots for The Thrills and The Subways. Having burst onto the scene last year with their single, Eddie’s Gun, The Kooks have continued to grow in stature with follow-ups, Sofa Song and You Don’t Love Me. Their debut album Inside In/Inside Out furthers the feel-good vibe surrounding them and is positively brimming with energy. Think of seminal pop bands like The Beach Boys, The Beatles and The Kinks at their most melodic and simple, throw in some lashings of Police style reggae and you're at least half way to understanding Inside In/Inside Out. But of course what's on offer isn't complex or challenging in any way shape or form, these are 14 little ditties written in their short time together as a band that exude a great sense of youth, energy and charisma, all in wonderfully concise and easy to digest pieces of music.

A record packed with great rock songs tinged with catchy pop melodies

Inside In/Inside Out is a record packed with great rock songs tinged with catchy pop melodies – but it opens with a short acoustic number that demonstrates a fragile side to singer Luke Pritchard. See The World then explodes with screaming guitars and brilliant energy, before the sweet melody of Sofa Song kicks in. It’s a great pop single laced with humor, as is the tellingly titled Jackie Big Tits. Debut single from last summer Eddie’s Gun is a quirky rocker, while most recent release You Don’t Love Me is a stomping track that leans towards punk. Ooh La is a sun fried, upbeat acoustic number, with a wonderful chorus, or series of choruses as it happens. A breezy acoustic ditty, She Moves In Her Own Way is as catchy as the best work of The Coral and The Zutons. Showing the confidence to experiment with their music, hints of ska are to be found in Matchbox and Time Awaits, where Pritchard does an impression of a street busking soul singer in the deep south of America, before he and his cohorts kick in to something of an extended, almost psychedelic rock-out. The highlights don't stop there – I Want You Back shows off a more melancholic and dark side to the band. Utilizing a soulful piano, it bursts into a grand and emotive track that is highly impressive, and the one of the standout moments of the record.

The Kooks have delivered a genuinely catchy debut album

Brighton four-piece The Kooks have delivered a genuinely catchy debut album with Inside In/Inside Out, a short and snappy collection of warm melodies and infectious hooks. Despite their flirtation with a number of genres, (sun-drenched pop, dead-ahead rock 'n' roll, 90’s Britpop, brain-juddering ska, a few songs are even giving off distinct traces of emo), The Kooks have already managed to boil it all down and cook up their own sound. After one listen to Inside In/Inside Out, it becomes sadly apparent just how much fun the non-lobotomized portion of the population has been missing the last several years. Inside In/Inside Out is a freakish, insanely illogical smorgasbord of ideas that easily earns the band its name; it’s as entertaining as it is outlandish. It is an excellent debut effort that walks a satisfying line between heartbreak and lust, happiness and melancholy that suggests The Kooks are very much here to stay!