The Kooks-Konk

Stompbox

Very aware that we probably have a plethora of begrudgers here but I feel their first album was thoroughly enjoyable and set a new standard in guitar pop, tracks such as See The World and Matchbox were cracking tunes so I was admittedly apprehensive as to whether they could follow up on their sophomore effort.

Had a couple of listens so far and it's likeability was quite immediate. Some great songs such as the opener See The Sun and Gap. Colossal wandering guitars with catchy vocal melodies and some thundering drums in parts.Need to give it a few more listens for it to properly register but Im quite impressed. I don't predict it trumping over it's predecessor though. Not a bad effort from what I hear so far.

KatiexKOUTURE--

is the album out already?

strawberryb0y

KatiexKOUTURE-- wrote: »

is the album out already?

No its out on the 11th

kensutz

Was listening to it in work and I'm not overly impressed with it. Might need to give it another couple of sessions of listening to it to see if my opinion changes.

rowlandbrowner

They’ve done some really interesting things with their hair on this album, and talk about “genre-defying” shoes!

happydayz182

This is the ultimate.."after a 2nd lesson listen its class album"........So brilliant...im loving Sway,See the Sun and Gap..Im cant wait to see them at Dublin Castle in may!

flyswatter

I have to admit Always Where I Need To Be is a good tune.

ShoulderChip

konk by name,
plonk by nature.

SprostonGreen

Their first album was good but after a few listens found it a bit tired. They disappeared for the whole of 2007.

I saw them last night on Later, while I thought they were ok, I wish the singer would grow a pair and stop being a snivelling lovesick puppy.

togster

I just downloaded it yesterday. I like it alot. The opening track is rocking.

beans

Sorry, not heard the album, but the single is p.a.n.t.s.

It's all about the direness of the chorus, if it weren't for that they'd be safe... what were they thinking?

Legend20

This album is truly a load of poo, first album had some brilliant songs on it! Big let down, cant say I didnt expect it though!

ZakAttak

I heard they formed at a stage school- is this true? If it is I cannot think of a more shocking example of contrived bullsh1t.

musicmatty

I like the single but not sure about the 'do do, do dee do deee doo" chorus...kinda like he ran out of inspiration there.

Konk is a studio near me in Landan.


_________________________________________
Get Chris Singleton's acclaimed 'Twisted City' album entirely free and legally at www.singletonmusic.com/freealbum.

"Some of the best pop/rock you are likely to hear this or any year" - Tony Clayton-Lea, Irish Times

ShoulderChip

ZakAttak wrote: »

I heard they formed at a stage school- is this true? If it is I cannot think of a more shocking example of contrived bullsh1t.

Thats a bit harsh, and I despise the kooks, don't just use that stereotype,
the same arguments have been leveled against arcade fire.

ZakAttak

ShoulderChip wrote: »

Thats a bit harsh, and I despise the kooks, don't just use that stereotype,
the same arguments have been leveled against arcade fire.

The Kooks are a Billy-Barry-kids rock band. Arcade fire are a poor man's R.E.M. Stage schools teach kids to treat music as a form of entertainment, not as an art form. They teach you not to express yourself, instead you should only try to please your audience. You need a good balance of the two (ie. James Brown)- The Kooks have neither.

rowlandbrowner

here is a link to a series of leaked emails where record company suits talk about marketing the kooks...

http://www.propeller.com/viewstory/2006/12/08/leaked-music-industry-emails-about-the-kooks/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stylusmagazine.com%2Freviews%2Fthe-kooks%2Finside-in-inside-out.htm&frame=true

"I was, I must admit, a little worried before radio got hold of Naive and the album took off. Having a third single peak at 12, with the kind of push we were giving them was disheartening to say the least. Getting them to agree its single release was a nightmare Luke [Pritchard, lead singer of The Kooks] was very precious about it but I had to lay down the law with him, I told him that if they didn't have a radio hit they'd be going the way of BRMC [Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, US group that left Virgin Records in 2004]. That shut him up."

this is the world that the kooks exist in, the kooks are a product. fact.

happydayz182

No the world we exist in is one where snobs judge bands on where they have come from and their backround...Luke Pritchard wrote "Naive" when he was 16 and can get 20000+ people belting it out every gig...He must have an ounce of talent to do that..They are the best live band ive ever seen

ZakAttak

happydayz182 wrote: »

No the world we exist in is one where snobs judge bands on where they have come from and their backround...Luke Pritchard wrote "Naive" when he was 16 and can get 20000+ people belting it out every gig...He must have an ounce of talent to do that..They are the best live band ive ever seen

He must have connections within the music industry; stage school types usually do.

ZakAttak

If it means more young kids listening to soul and funk, instead of that plastic indie sh1t- then I'm all for them.

Stompbox

I think a lot of their critics are quite snobby condescending types. Every era needs a band like the Kooks, great singalong songs that don't require much attention or devotion in order for them to register with the masses. And that lad who said music is an art form and shouldnt be for the purposes of audience satisfaction is quite misguided, audience satisfaction is the art. If you cant please the audience then obviously your music isnt good. Please think before you type.

rowlandbrowner

Sweet wrote: »

I think a lot of their critics are quite snobby condescending types. Every era needs a band like the Kooks, great singalong songs that don't require much attention or devotion in order for them to register with the masses.

and this "era" has far too many singalong lad rock bands, to the extent where people are actually called snobs for asking for depth in their music.

allybhoy

I have the album and I think its good, maybe not as good as the first album but its still got some great tracks on it. Last song (Tick of time) is my favourite. Hate all the begrudgers on here who hate bands just because they are radio friendly. I was also at the gig the other nite and thought they were extremely good live, The Koronas on the other hand were brutal.

SprostonGreen wrote: »

Their first album was good but after a few listens found it a bit tired. They disappeared for the whole of 2007.

The reason why they went missing for a while is because one of the band members was extremely ill in hospital, dont know what was wrong but they were going to dissolve the band as it looked critical for a while.

ZakAttak

Sweet wrote: »

I think a lot of their critics are quite snobby condescending types. Every era needs a band like the Kooks, great singalong songs that don't require much attention or devotion in order for them to register with the masses. And that lad who said music is an art form and shouldnt be for the purposes of audience satisfaction is quite misguided, audience satisfaction is the art. If you cant please the audience then obviously your music isnt good. Please think before you type.

If you want to please an audience then play country n' western. Every weekend across the length and breadth of this country there are country n' western bands playing to huge crowds of paying punters- and the musicians involved are making good money at it too. The size of the audiences at these gigs would shock you, whole full-size function rooms packed out on a regular basis. Any band in Dublin could easily be driven to insane jealousy by the attendance at these gigs.

Go to any advertised c n' w gig (check the tabloids for listings, theres tonnes of 'em) and you will see queues right out the door- and thats no exxagerration. I went to college in Limerick where I worked at a bar that held these nights- it was mental! I couldn't believe how popular this stuff was- wanna know where the audience for showbands has gone? They're all at C n' W gigs. J. R. Dallas, that oul 1 that does dolly parton covers and a bunch of others- making good money and playing to even bigger audiences.

Theres just 1 problem I have with this- the music is absolutely diabolical, bad in the worst possible sense; to call it bland would be to compliment this stuff- but make know doubt about it, the audience is pleased and will undoubtedly turn up the next week for another round of drunken line dancing.

You're the one who needs to think before they type, although if you can't be bothered thinking then I suggest you head on down and check out 'Ronnie Cash' (I'm not making this up)- get drunk on weak lager and puke in a taxi; although it does sound like more fun than a Kooks gig.

Art is about much more things than just 'pleasing your audience'.

Howard the Duck

ZakAttak wrote: »

If you want to please an audience then play country n' western.

What your talking about seems to be Irish country n' western which can hardly be called music let alone art. I would never call a band artists people who make music aren't artists.To me they are musicians.But maybe thats just me.

The Kooks are a Billy-Barry-kids rock band. Arcade fire are a poor man's R.E.M. Stage schools teach kids to treat music as a form of entertainment, not as an art form. They teach you not to express yourself, instead you should only try to please your audience. You need a good balance of the two (ie. James Brown)- The Kooks have neither

You say that stage school only teaches you to entertain and not to express yourself? yet don;t these schools teach acting as well? one of the most expressive art forms there are surely.
And then you say that the Kooks were only taught to entertain their audience and not to express themselves before going onto say that they neither entertain or express themselves? Your contradicting yourself there aren;t you?

I'm not a big fan of the Kooks for me they are a Pop band not Rock but i thought Naive was a great song and they are way better then most of the crap that make it into the charts.

Also i don;t think Arcade Fire are a poor man's R.E.M .. R.E.M have been the poor man's R.E.M for a good few years now

Dudess

Ooh La is such a rip-off of the New Order song Dream Attack (the last track on their album Technique).

ZakAttak

Howard the Duck wrote: »

What your talking about seems to be Irish country n' western which can hardly be called music let alone art.

==>I didn't say it was either music or art- but alot of people consider it to be entertainment.

I would never call a band artists people who make music aren't artists.To me they are musicians.But maybe thats just me.

==>I don't understand what you're saying here- syntax error?

You say that stage school only teaches you to entertain and not to express yourself? yet don;t these schools teach acting as well? one of the most expressive art forms there are surely.

==>Actors are told what to do by a director and/or producer. Writing a play or a film is a different thing- thats when you have to express yourself. Or you could be writing your own material. But stage schools don't teach people how to write.

And then you say that the Kooks were only taught to entertain their audience and not to express themselves before going onto say that they neither entertain or express themselves? Your contradicting yourself there aren;t you?

==>Wheres the contradiction? Just because the Kooks try to entertain, doesn't mean they are entertaining. I'm sure Bernard Dunne tries to be a good boxer- but he is in fact a bag of sh1te that gets his ass kicked by every half-decent fighter there is.

I'm not a big fan of the Kooks for me they are a Pop band not Rock but i thought Naive was a great song and they are way better then most of the crap that make it into the charts.

==>You mean to say it was better than any of Westlife's songs?!! Gee, I'm impressed....

Also i don;t think Arcade Fire are a poor man's R.E.M .. R.E.M have been the poor man's R.E.M for a good few years now

==>I never said R.E.M. were a good band, but they're better than arcade fire- any band that makes big slow singalongs their ultimate goal deserves to be shot. Listening to their music is like sitting at a camp-fire with some creepy scoutmaster; "Now come on kids lets all join in the next verse". They're bloody awful.

Driver 8

Ever seen them live? or R.E.M. for that matter?

ZakAttak

Driver 8 wrote: »

Ever seen them live? or R.E.M. for that matter?

This comes from Blender magazine's worst moments in rock....ever!:

11. “You Really Have to See Them Live.”
First heard muttered by a proselytizing Grateful Dead fan sometime around minute 13 of the studio version of “Terrapin Station, Pt. 1,” this reflexive, defensive cry has long been used as an excuse for the existence of reams of irretrievably dull Phish, Widespread Panic and moe. records. If your studio albums feel limp compared with your live show, don’t put them out.

==>Although I have seen R.E.M. live- I like R.E.M. but I'm very selective about which bits I like; I think there early stuff still stands out- but they've had a few good moments since. The Kooks are just pure sh1t.

Driver 8

Surely "I prefer their early stuff" is an even bigger cliche than "but they're great live"?

ZakAttak

Driver 8 wrote: »

Surely "I prefer their early stuff" is an even bigger cliche than "but they're great live"?

So?

Driver 8

Just saying

And yes, the Kooks are atrocious, live or otherwise, early stuff or current album.

Gavin "shels"

Have to say loving this album, got it today and it's good so far.

whatawaster

There's absolutely nothing alternative, indie or, indeed, interesting about The Kooks. So why there is a thread at all and why it is here is beyond me.
Truly awful band.

ZakAttak

whatawaster wrote: »

There's absolutely nothing alternative, indie or, indeed, interesting about The Kooks. So why there is a thread at all and why it is here is beyond me.
Truly awful band.

We have to have something to take the p1ss out of!

djfitzerjnr

brilliant, just in time 4 summer n all!:

Birdy5

Love it!!! Thinks is an ace second album!!! Were amazing at Dublin Castle!

happydayz182

Dublin Castle was just buzzin!!

Jackie Big tits!

WeAreBohs

Absolutely class album. Have it a while now and I love it. 'Do you wanna' is a deadly song.