Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The Kooks

By Jennifer Terranella

I studied in London nearly two years ago now, and I miss it daily. I am constantly on the look-out for anything that reminds me of my time in England, so to get my fix of British music, I ventured down to Providence to see The Kooks play at Lupo’s.

For those of you who haven’t been there, Lupo’s is a great venue. It is a mid-size place that draws a variety of acts from alternative to cover bands to washed-up pop trios. Nevertheless, I have always had a good time at their shows. There is seating in the balcony if you aren’t that interested in the opening bands, a bar for those of you who are legal, and lots of floor space to get you as close to the band or as far away from the screaming tweens as you want to be.

I was only interested in seeing The Kooks, but I made it down in enough time to see the second of the two opening bands, called Illinois. Although put off by their opening song which had quite a country influence, I was pleasantly surprised as their set continued. It moved into a more alternative rock, with an alt-country vibe. Definitely eclectic and worth checking out.

The Kooks are a fairly new band that haven’t gotten a lot of exposure yet in America. They came out with their first CD Inside In, Inside Out in 2006. The record is a collection of upbeat alternative rock tracks that have a great garage band sound. Much like The Strokes earlier stuff, but with happier vocals. The debut made major waves in England, but didn’t break into America until they released their cheerful single “Naïve.” Earlier this year they dropped their mature sophomore disc, Konk. Not as fast and fun, but definitely still worth picking up. The more you listen to the tracks, the more they will grow on you. Although it is not the Kooks of Inside In, it is the logical next step in a long career in music.

Now, I have been to my fair share of concerts, but this one definitely ranks in the top five. Not only did they play every song I could have hoped for, the crowd was into the music without being over-zealous and put on an exhilarating live show. The lead singer has a unique voice, so it would have been easy for the concert to be a complete bust, but I was excited to hear that they sounded better than their CDs. Since they only have two CDs and an hour and a half set, they ended up playing most of their songs, maintaining a nice mix of the mellow tracks off of the second disk and the crowd pleasing favorites of the first, keeping the audience engaged, dancing and singing along the whole night.

The stand-out moment of the night came when the band came out for an encore. They started with “Seaside,” the forgettable intro track found on their first disc. I was blown away by the acoustic rendition. I never really paid much attention to the song, but you couldn’t help but feel the heartbreak that Luke, the lead singer, must have been feeling by the passion and ache in his voice. The song is about someone he fell in love with, and by the tone of the song that night, someone he is still in love with and misses deeply. Easily the best song of the night. He later jumped into the crowd, which made the audience happy even though security didn’t look pleased, but the heart-wrenching version of “Seaside” still stands out in my mind, even two weeks after the show.

All-in-all, it was an amazing experience. I already loved The Kooks, but this show made me appreciate the band even more. Not only can they produce a fun or pensive album, but they are truly talented musicians. If you ever see that The Kooks are making their way through your town, make sure you grab a ticket. I promise you won’t be disappointed.