Originally posted on www.soundblab.com
Indie band the Kooks return with their third album and I must say they are back on top form. Their second album Konk was released a few years back and even though it hit number one, didn't really go anywhere, and to be quite frank was nowhere near as good as their debut. Junk of the Heartappears to put hem back up where they were when their debut conquered the UK charts.
The album seems a little bit more experimental than their previous two efforts as a number of songs, such as 'Runaway' and 'Mr Nice Guy' incorporate some synths in the background. Despite this, there is still the traditional indie acoustic guitar lead, which appears to have become their trademark sound. Overall, the record comes across as a break-up album, with a lot of the songs discussing breaking up and wanting someone back, such as the slower 'Killing Me' and 'Is It Me', while other songs such as 'Rosie' still have that break-up feel to them and the longing for someone but with a more thumping opening and quite a loud catchy chorus which you can envision people chanting along to in the crowd of a festival.
The thought of it being a break-up album is cemented in the final track, 'Junk of the Heart (Happy)', where it gets the message across to the fans about the junk of the heart being the junk of head, which for anyone who has gone through a break up or heart ache can perfectly understand. Two stand-out tracks are opener 'Eskimo Kiss', which is without a doubt the most radio friendly track on the record and the most likely to gain them a chart hit (Oh, and it's a pretty catchy summer song that you will no doubt find yourself singing and dancing along to). The other stand-out has to be 'Time Above the Earth', which has quite a classical violin opening and feels very ambient and overall is quite experimental for The Kooks.
Overall, this album feels a lot more mature and incorporates the more upbeat happy songs throughout and alongside the more melancholy heart-break songs, but you won't finish listening to this album feeling depressed. The album is definitely a triumph for the band and will no doubt make their fans happy, and establishes them once again as a top UK band after the disappointment of Konk.
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