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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. See The Sun |
| 2. Always Where I Need To Be |
| 3. Mr. Maker |
| 4. Do You Wanna |
| 5. Gap |
| 6. Love It All |
| 7. Stormy Weather |
| 8. Sway |
| 9. Shine On |
| 10. Down To The Market |
| 11. One Last Time |
| 12. Tick Of Time |
| 13. All Over Town |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Konk, the second album from indie pop starlets The Kooks, will appeal to those who enjoyed the catchier, hookier elements of their best-selling debut Inside In/Inside Out. For the band are more "pop" than "indie" this time around, and Konk is an overt attempt at winning even more chart-topping kudos: and it's not a bad attempt at that. Recorded over a six-week period at the end of 2007 (in Ray Davies' Konk Studios in London), the album's first single "Always Where I Need to Be" is as insouciantly catchy as a contemporary rock band can get, while tracks like opener "See the Sun," and "Mr. Maker", with its infectious hand claps, are equally accessible. There's tougher fare like "Sway", which show the boys can blast it when they want, but the album generally plays it safe, grappling (clumsily in places) with themes of love and sex, and revealing not a great deal of musical or lyrical depth in the process (see "Do You Wanna"). The album runs out of steam towards the end, and though fans of their earlier material will love it, fussier indie fans will probably point their ears towards something less contrived. --Danny McKenna
Review
After selling two million copies of the marvellous Inside In, Inside Out, indie poster boys, The Kooks, seem to have succumbed to the curse which has plagued so many musicians. Enjoying huge success and critical acclaim with their debut and becoming festival heroes with their summery anthems, there seemed no end to the band's reign of the hearts of a nation. Well, not until now at least. Yes folks, it may be a cliche, but the Kooks have fallen foul of second album syndrome.
Konk isn't imbued with the sunshiny, carefree sound that its predecessor was infused with. Only the single, Always Where I Need To Be, has the band's signature effervescent quality and bounce about it. The album seems, on the whole, a little contrived with the recycling of old guitar lines and intros. It's almost as if they've said: 'Right, people liked this hook, this line, this intro; let's try and use it again'. To call Konk the sound of complacency is too cruel, but it is the sound of a band who don't seem as enthused and as ready to impress.
There are, however, some shining moments on the album. Mr Maker is a little barnstormer of a track; peppered with hand claps and slide guitar; it is the sound of a band enjoying themselves. Stormy Weather, despite having an intro which sounds like a detuned Sofa Song, is hugely likable with its refrain of ''It feels like love, love, love''. It plods along sweetly and could be the sort of track that you might bop, albeit ironically, to at an indie disco. One Last Time is a lovely piece of balladry but loses credibility somewhat with its rhyme of: ''ABCDEF and G/Reminds me of when we were free''.
Konk is not without its accomplishments, but it lacks the drive and far more importantly, the anthemic qualities of their debut. It's too early to count them out, but they'll need to try harder with album number three. --Kate Sharp
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
this is a great album, almost living up the the greatness of the kooks's first album. All the songs are catchy and well written, my favourite have to be Mr Maker, stormy weather and shine on, recommended for people who haven't listened to the kooks before, and also for their previous fans
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
In my opinion, Rak is brilliant. I've listened to it more than Konk infact, I was just amazed at how the Kooks have progressed and how they are experimenting with some really different sounds.. if it weren't for Luke's voice on a couple of tracks you would never guess it was them, they've really broadened their sound on this cd.
Shows this band have really got talent, so DEFINITELY go for the double cd version.
Shows this band have really got talent, so DEFINITELY go for the double cd version.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The album Konk is quite similar to the first album 'Inside In/Inside Out' but lacks the catalogue of summer singles to match its predecessor. The album starts off well with the brilliantly catchy 'See The Sun.' It is followed by first single 'Always Where I Need To Be' which is a great first single, proving the band can still write some quick, catchy singles. Following song 'Mr Maker' is good but not great, it is a summery song but never quite lives up to anything on the first album in my opinion. Next up is the rawer sounding 'Do You Wanna' which catches the Kooks in great form. It has a great guitar riff and is perhaps a future single. 'Gap' follows which is a poor song by their standards, it is quite bluesy but never quite gets going and drags on. The song 'Love It All' starts well but its Beatlesesque chorus is cringey and just makes you want to skip it. 'Stormy Weather' starts off with a great bass line and continues until the chorus where it is just as strong, a good song! Then comes 'Sway' which is the new Naive for this album. It is an anthem and will be a sure hit should they release it. 'Shine On' then drops the form and although it has an uplifting chorus it is a B side at best.
'Down To The Market' starts off similarly to previous song 'See The World' but doesn't have its raw edge which lets it down, it is still a good listen though. 'One Last Time' is the last highlight of the album and is great acoustic sing-a-long, much like 'Seaside' from the previous album. 'Tick of Time' finishes the album with a jam start and it is poor, it feels so staged that you want to turn it off. Once the song gets properly under way it is a good foot tapping song, but no more.
A good album but it is let down by some poor songs but when they hit their peek they make some great songs.
'Down To The Market' starts off similarly to previous song 'See The World' but doesn't have its raw edge which lets it down, it is still a good listen though. 'One Last Time' is the last highlight of the album and is great acoustic sing-a-long, much like 'Seaside' from the previous album. 'Tick of Time' finishes the album with a jam start and it is poor, it feels so staged that you want to turn it off. Once the song gets properly under way it is a good foot tapping song, but no more.
A good album but it is let down by some poor songs but when they hit their peek they make some great songs.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very Pleased
The product was exactly as described and arrived promptly. This was securely packaged. Really easy to order and purchase. Will definately purchase such a product again
Published 6 months ago by Humberside
Brilliant
Very quick delivery even on the free super saver, excellent condition on arrival, and musically its everything you expect from the kooks :)
Published 8 months ago by Panda
Konk, The Kooks
Excellent album with a nice blend of acoustic tracks, catchy hooks and unexpected melodic twists.
Published 20 months ago by Longdistanceal
It grows on you...
After their massive debut album 'Inside In/Inside out', The Kooks always had a job on their hands to emulate the success of their first release. Read more
Published on 6 Jan 2010 by Dave
cd
Amazing album, every song is fab and a good car cd to sing along to, cant wait for the next one!!
Published on 6 Dec 2009 by Ms. A. J. Tinkler
fantastic up lifiting feeling to this album
this album has real kick, punch and the ability to cheer the party up,
such a spectacular sound from such young talent, the production sound is amazing,
tight and punchy,... Read more
such a spectacular sound from such young talent, the production sound is amazing,
tight and punchy,... Read more
Published on 27 Aug 2009 by son charlie
Don't be too put off
I was a little put off by the negative reviews on here but whilst on a long flight recently I decided to give Konk a whirl. I really isn't bad! Read more
Published on 16 April 2009 by The usual suspect
crap - they've blown it!
after a cracking first album the kooks have gone the same way as so many others - regurgitating all the tricks that made there debut different but forgetting to write the songs -... Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2009 by D. P. Woolford
Konking out
The Kooks always had a tough task. After the hit of their debut and how it saturated the market, the follow up was always running the risk of being quickly dismissed as much of the... Read more
Published on 22 Dec 2008 by M. Speller
Nice summer album
OK, critics will say this is another very regional accent sounding album, one of many artists like that at the moment (artic monkeys, reverand and the makers etc. Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2008 by chuckles
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