After their breakout as newcomers in 2006 with the release of Inside In/Inside Out, which reached #2 on the U.K. charts, and a few changes in their lineup in 2008 for the #1 Konk, here are the Brighton boys The Kooks again with their third studio album, named Junk of the Heart.
The record’s 12 tracks speak to the title: “Junk of the Heart” is the perfect line to describe what’s inside this album. All of the songs are about love, relationships, and the emotions they bring forth. These British guys wanted to tell people that they grew up, things changed, and not everything in rock is about “What the hell do I care? Fuck you all and give me my drink.” There’s a heart behind every kid, and whether you call it “junk” or “love,” it doesn’t change what the songs are talking about.
Opening the album is “Junk of the Heart (Happy),” which happens to also be the first single taken from Junk of the Heart, and which perfectly represents The Kooks’ style on the album. If you want to listen to something that will remind you of the band on their debut, you will have to wait till track eight, “Is It Me,” with its great guitar riff and bass line. But there’s much more between those two tracks: “Rosie” boasts a rock ‘n’ roll retro sound as it focuses on the “junk” of jealousy andunhappiness in a relationship; “Fuck the World Off,” led by an interesting guitar line, brings back some rockstar style; and The Beatles influence “Mr. Nice Guy” and “Eskimo Kiss,” the latter of which is the most romantic track on Junk of the Heart: after all, what’s more romantic than touching noses together?
The sound of Junk of the Heart is clean, sensible, inspiring, and representative of the growth that The Kooks went through over the last few years. Of course, those British Invasion retro influences from The Beatles, The Kinks, and the ’60s in general are still there. This helps to create an homogeneous feeling which is pleasantly interrupted by “Time Above the Earth,” which will take you to another level as strings and lonely, nostalgic vocals create an abstract feeling which you won’t hear in any other song on the album.
All in all, Junk of the Heart is a very positive album: optimistic, somehow romantic in a manly way. The Kooks have changed — and they are still evolving, as this album proves. However, Junk of the Heart should appeal to both long-time Kooks fans as well as newcomers to the band.