Written by Susie Salva
Brighton-based pop musicians the Kooks have just released their third CD, “Junk of the Heart” on Astralwerks/Capitol Records and prove to be much more introspective, confessional, and more vulnerable this time out. The Kooks have decided to mix things up by consciously deciding to retool, rethink and readjust the direction of their songs and music. Luke Pritchard and the band have reinvented themselves from the ground up pairing themselves with the band’s long-time producer Tony Hoffer (a man so integral to the band Luke calls him, “our George Martin”) who builds beats and basslines and atmospheres on his laptop. What they’ve ended up with is a string of bright and emotional, deeply melodic pop gems that draw on a whole world of new influences from electronic music to luscious string quartets and hip-hop.
Right at the get-go the band makes no qualms that with the new CD they are working with more refined songs and letting their emotions take over perhaps less pop-driven music and at times a more somber mood.
“The whole way we work has changed,” Luke explains. “We’re not just a band making noise in a room anymore. We’ve moved on a lot and I’m really proud of what we’ve done. There are elements of all the music we have ever loved in this new record, but it still has our root. “Junk of the Heart” is very different and hopefully something that no one’s ever heard before. It’s upbeat – it’s an album to play in the sun.”
Gone from this disc is the spontaneously upbeat and youthful energy of the band’s previous CD’s that has now has been replaced with more introspection and brooding. The band captures the emotion and sounds of the Police, the Stones, and even the Cure. This CD marks a rebirth for the Kooks with material written and recorded in London and Los Angeles over the last nine months. It appears that they made a conscious effort to create songs with more emotion and less fervent energy.
This CD was written to be listened to as if it were a complete album from top to bottom. So the album opens up with a dramatic backbeat, builds across acoustic guitar and warm washes of synth before collapsing into the sort of chorus making something so contagious that you will be singing it for days on end.
The album jumps starts with the title and lead track, “Junk of the Heart (Happy)” with a driving drumbeat and begs forth that he wants to make his partner to be happy, but it could be suggested that he (Luke Prichard) wants to make his listening audience happy too. Prichard’s voice is unique and definitive making their music easily identifiable. “Taking Pictures of You,” is very Cure-like with tongue and cheek lyrics with his need to tell a secret. This track is probably the most radio ready. “Runaway,” uses an array of percussion while “Is it Me,” sounds like early Police music and again discusses the question of friendship or a serious relationship. Most of the music is like a personal diary begging for the relationship to work out or to deciding to end it.
This is definitely more personal record then the previous two albums. “Time Above the Earth,” displays a lovely string quartet section that carries the tune along a welcome transition instead of a confusing new direction. Probably the strongest two tracks would have to be “Killing Me,” and “Eskimo Kiss,” sounding more like their previous songs from their previous CD’s. “Junk of the Heart,” is quite a turnaround for a band once famous for their unstinting desire and devotion to older sounds and styles.
“This is certainly part of the conceptual element to this,” Luke says. “I’m inspired by Yeats and love poetry and this album looks at that search – search for purity and honesty. It is a warm record that was crucial to us. It had to be comforting and tender, but with bite and vibe too.”
These pop musicians know exactly what they are doing by the manipulation of their new sound and their desire to make you happy and joyous without losing their desired intention. The first two Kooks albums, “Inside In/Inside Out” and “Konk,” were well received by the press and the public, and “Junk of the Heart,” will probably to continue the trend. A few of the songs have the potential to become big hits and finally put these guys on the map.
“Music should be experimental, not constricted. We’re not turning our back on what we have done, but we’re different people now. So everything is evolving, the live show will be evolving –it will have too, even the old songs will be changed a bit. I don’t know what will happen next, but I know I’m looking ahead. This record has opened the floodgates for us,” says Prichard.
www.thekooks.com
