The Kooks are doing a long awaited tour of Australia for their new album, and they’ve been bloody brilliant so far!
There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned rock-n-roll concert, and standing in the grand, hazy space that is Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion, it was hard not to feel a bit nostalgic. After all, for a lot of us in the crowd, The Kooks were the soundtrack to our high school years.
They began the set with two or three classic songs from their old album, which had the crowd jumping and screaming in a frenzy of oh-this-used-to-be-my-jam excitement. But then they started to play tracks from their new album, Listen. And it by God, they weren’t half bad.
Lead singer Luke Pritchard openly acknowledged that most of the crowd knew them better for their old stuff, but by the end of the night everyone was absolutely digging the new music. It has a maturity and a complexity to it that shatters the one-dimensional, British boy-band mould that they used to sit so well in.
The Kooks have taken musical influences from a huge range of sources for their latest album, and it really shows. Listen features choirs, crazy synths and some badass funky beats due to their collaboration with London-based hip hop producer Inflo. Despite all this, they still retain that gloriously grimy, English rock-n-roll feel that we so love them for.
The boys played with such an incredible energy, despite having flown straight from the UK to New Zealand and then to Australia the day before. The night was absolutely massive. The Kooks have proven themselves to be more than just a boy-band of our youth. These guys are seriously talented, and seriously relevant. If you haven’t heard their new album please check it out.
They kicked off in Sydney on Tuesday, but are still due to play in Brisbane and Melbourne later this week, which you can buy tickets for here!