Thursday, August 03, 2006

All hunky dory with the Kooks

Play it: David Bowie "Kooks"
Stream: The Kooks "Eddie's Gun" (Astralwerks)
Video: The Kooks "Naive" (YouTube)
Download: Lily Allen "Naive" (Kooks cover) (via appledaisy)

I've been back from my UK trip for nearly a month now, and another act I heard everywhere while I was there is still stuck in my head - The Kooks.

They're poised to cross the pond here in October (their debut Inside In / Inside Out comes out October 3rd on Astralwerks) and the most interesting thing about the build-up is how much they seem to be downplaying it. In the UK, The Kooks (who's name is taken from David Bowie's "Kooks" off of Hunky Dory) are all swagger and attitude, but when confronted with the prospect of breaking in stateside, they're a little more realistic. Could be because many NME-hyped Brit bands have fallen on deaf ears upon crossing, and the young lads from Brighton don't want to tempt fate.

That's probably the best approach, as there's nothing that can potentially kill a rock debut here in the states quicker then proclamation of the 'next big thing.'

Speaking of 'the next big thing,' Lily Allen's already gaining steam on her eventual stateside crashlanding (already heavy radio play here in Seattle via KEXP,) so the Kooks also might benefit from Lily's fans finding her acoustic cover of the Kooks' "Naive" (which she did as an apology for dissin' Luke in a blog entry.) Not saying they need to ride coattails, or anything (can't imagine lead singer Luke Pritchard agreeing to following her old school mate Lily's lead,) but every little bit helps in translating success over here.

Previously: Smile, you're number 1 (Lily Allen)

tags: , , , ,

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I LOVE the kooks! they rule!!!! There music is brillent! they do what they like and how they like it! whih is good because you dont hear of may bands like that, or so 2 say other bands bascly get told what 2 play and how 2 play it. but the kooks... they just play music how they like it which rocks!!!! and i can see them getting really big! they rock and need 2 keep on rocking!!!

Mykaila said...

I love the kooks also... I think that it's great that they're about playing anything they want, and that they give that small-band feel even though they're huge.