Jan 2006

'Inside In/Inside Out' is the eagerly anticipated debut album from young Brighton four-piece The Kooks, produced by Tony Hoffer (Beck, Air, Supergrass) and recorded at Ray Davies' KONK Studios in North London.

Now with their debut album, The Kooks fully demonstrate their plenitude of clever guitar hooks and jerk-pop antics, with fourteen quirky and energetic tunes. Including 'Eddie's Gun', described by NME as "deeply impressive as a debut single gets") and its follow-up 'Sofa Song', a magnificent jaunt of youthful exuberance, 'Inside In/ Inside Out' is an album bursting with infectious songs. Album highlight, and third single, 'You Don't Love Me' finds the band perfecting the art of concise songwriting, never outstaying its 2 and a half minute romp of bittersweet riffs and vocals that are equally angst ridden and lust-driven.

HMV CD Editor

Inside In/Inside Out is an album with summer written all over it. Although overshadowed by the explosive appearance of the Arctic Monkeys, the success of The Kooks' debut album of 2006 was inevitable. Slowly climbing the UK Top 40 from January, the Brighton boys' fan-base grew as summer approached, finally hitting the well-deserved No.1 spot in a sweltering July.

Inside In/Inside Out is a superb indie record with flashes of almost every sound to have come out of Britain previously. It opens with the short, summery acoustic number “Seaside”, before moving straight into the energetic, screaming guitars of “See The World”. Debut single “Eddie's Gun” is a quirky, dance-inspiring track and features a light-hearted, humorous side, as does “Sofa Song” and the cheekily titled “Jackie Big Tits”.

Inside In/Inside Out also contains some of the catchiest, uplifting pop melodies around, cue “Naïve” and “She Moves In Her Own Way”, and experimental flashes of ska and blues appear in “Match Box” and “Time Awaits”. Also, the vocal skills of singer Luke Pritchard should not be over looked, which give each track that extra energy and expression – undeniable in “If Only”. A must-have album, The Kooks have captured the sound of British summer.

Ross Stewart, HMV Kirkcaldy