The Kooks - Inside In/Inside Out(Acoustic) (2006)

ARTiST: The Kooks
TiTLE: Inside In/inside Out Acoustic
LABEL: Toshiba Japan
GENRE: Indie
TiME: 43:07 min
SiZE: 66,10 MB
BiTRATE: VBRkbps
RiP DATE: Aug-16-2006
RELEASE DATE: Aug-14-2006
WEBSiTE: www.thekooks.co.uk

Track List:

01. Seaside (Live At Abbey Road Acoustic)      01:49
02. See The World                              02:25
    (Live At Abbey Road Acoustic)
03. Sofa Song (Live At Abbey Road Acoustic)    02:37
04. Eddie's Gun (Live At Abbey Road Acoustic)  02:23
05. Ooh Lah (Live At Abbey Road Acoustic)      03:23
06. You Don't Love Me                          03:05
    (Live At Abbey Road Acoustic)
07. She Moves In Her Own Way                   03:02
    (Live At Abbey Road Acoustic)
08. Matchbox (Live At Abbey Road Acoustic)     02:12
09. Naive (Live At Abbey Road Acoustic)        03:46
10. Jackie Big Tits                            02:32
    (Live At Abbey Road Acoustic)
11. Time Awaits (Live At Abbey Road Acoustic)  04:53
12. Eddie's Gun (Live At Osaka Acoustic)       02:07
13. Naive (Live At Osaka Acoustic)             03:44
14. She Moves In Her Own Way                   02:56
    (Live At Osaka Acoustic)
15. California (Live At Osaka Acoustic)        02:13

Release Notes:

This is a japanese only acoustic album made up of unplugged live versions of the album tracks...


After a few false starts I realised that sitting
down and trying to write about "Inside In/Inside
Out" at length is an ultimately futile exercise -
why do you need to work your way through my verbose
citations of influences when all that inspires here
has done so for a million other bands before?
However, the fact that I feel like I'm stuck inside
doing homework while all the other kids are out
enjoying the summer sun is enough to tell me that
this is a record well worth hearing. The Kooks don't
talk trash on the 9-5 grind. They don't have a new
wave fixation. They don't talk about the gritty
realities of urban life; or spin metaphors from
weeping syringes and slamming prison doors.

What they do is take girls, the seaside and... well,
that's all you need really isn't it? Targets drawn,
they get on with the business at hand; namely
crafting some of the best soaring Britpop melodies
this side of the 60's (and Lee Mavers). Of the 14
tracks here, only about three or four wouldn't be
dead certs to make raids on the dizzier echelons of
the hit parade. They are a less irreverent and more
melodic Art Brut, swapping that band's caustic wit
for a far nicer type of honesty.

"See The World" bunks a train bound for Brighton
after hearing opener "Seaside", speeding through
English countryside towards fresh air, glassy sun
and pebbles that burn underfoot."Jackie Big Tits" is
the uncut retelling of those slanderous allegations
scrawled indelibly all over public transport since
Jimmy first caught the train back in '65, and
impressive singles "Eddie's Gun" and "Sofa Song"
talk about the girls that made him buy the ticket.
And, though tracks like "I Want You Back" chase
familiar shadows, they show that 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 even giving off
distinct traces of, whisper it - 'emo'), The Kooks
have already managed to boil it all down and cook up
their own sound. Melodies build, vocals bounce and
pace wanders until it all comes together at the end
in a neat summarisation of all that gone before in
the past few minutes.

The first half of the album is all right and proper,
but musically the best track here is "Time Awaits".
First impressions are important, and when it comes
ambling in through the back entrance of a deserted
blues bar, it doesn't sound like a fitting climax to
a debut album shot through with confidence and
teenage swagger. Then, crooner Luke Pritchard makes
a request: "don't leave this town..." Do they turn
it around? Of course they do. The song is promptly
grabbed by the scruff of the neck, shaken up and
generally given a good kicking as the band decides
they'd rather lord it about like a youthful Police
on chang than wank about with tired blues standards.
Brassy bold and tough as old boots, it strides off
in an offbeat, ownbeat direction, before "Got No
Love" comes along and goes all sleepy-eyed Beach
Boys on us - bringing to mind "Never Learn Not To
Love" in particular.

So, to review - The Kooks are from Brighton, they
are named after a David Bowie song and they write
great British pop songs. Sound good? I reckon so.