Album Review: Konk / Rak

I am a big fan of Inside In/Inside Out. It was one of my favourite albums in 2006, so I was eagerly anticipating The Kooks second album, especially after the disappointments of many follow up albums to surface from bands in the last year or so.

I am happy to report that Konk does not fall foul of this trend. The sound here is overall quite similar to their first album but that is a good thing.

The tracks on here are catchy, uplifting and meaningful. I love the guitar strumming and the lyrics for the most part are on the money. Frontman, Luke Pritchard's singing is as good as before, and the whole album is just very easy to listen to.

There are no real duff tracks on here. It's a great summer album and should go down very well at their gigs this summer. Fans of The Kooks will be pleased with this effort I think.

If for any reason, you are worried that the album is too samey to their first one, then I recommend that you get the special limited edition which includes the bonus disc and 9 additional tracks. In fact I recommend this version anyway as the tracks on here are superb as well.

I particularly liked the haunting and mellow sounds of "Watching the ships roll in" and the home demo of "Brooklyn". "Eaten by your lover" shows another side to The Kooks. It's a lot more quirky than their other tracks. Shame it's a bit short. "No longer" and "Fa la la la la" are other great tracks.

It's hard to believe that Rak was recorded live in a single day, it's so brilliant.

This is one band I am looking forward to going to see.

Favourite tracks:

See the sun
I always play this song. It seems to always get me going in the morning. Especially poignant on a sunny morning. It's a really great holiday mood track.

Always where I need to be
This wasn't great when I first heard it, but it definitely has grown on me and is a guaranteed sing-a-long song.

Other Hits: Gap, Sway, Mr. Maker, Eaten by your lover, No Longer.

Score: 9 (limited edition) 8 (standard)