Inside In/Inside Out
by The Kooks

Sorry, a playlist with some Strokes, Kings of Leon, James Blunt and Damien Rice has already been made. (Edited)

I was there in 2006 when this awful album was released. A trilogy of shit down the indie disco every Thursday inevitably went: Chelsea Dagger / [Naive] / A Town Called Malice.

Even as an impressionable 18 year old, I knew that a) this was awful and b) in years to come, this would be misguidedly hailed as a classic by the youth of the 2020s.

To quote Seymour Skinner (it is for you to decide the scale of irony): It is the children who are wrong. (Edited)

From meruizh 04/13/2014 08:41 | #109149 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Four tracks that stand out, the rest is forgetable

1. 100
2. 85
3. 90
4. 80
5. 95
6. 65
7. 100
8. 60
9. 100
10. 60
11. 55
12. 95
13. 50
14. 55

The Kooks' debut album Inside In/Inside Out is a classic piece of indie rock induced with the best parts of 60s' and 90s' Britpop. It's very guitar and rhythm-driven, with strong choruses and uniquely monotone vocals from singer XX. It contains several classic tunes, such as the calming Seaside or the nostalgic Naive, not to mention the infectious love songs Ooh La and She Moves In Her Own Way. The singles are all strong and memorable, but most of the other songs fail to stand out. You Don't Love Me, for instance, has strong percussion and fine lyrics, but it sounds a bit like See The World from earlier on the album, so it falls into obscurity fairly quickly.

The simple but powerful melodies and guitar hooks coupled with the vocals and the effectively short songs give this record a sense of nostalgia and keep the overall tempo pretty high. The emphasis on messy noise instead of melody on songs like If Only and Matchbox is the only aspect about the album I'm not very fond of. In that sense, this is a pretty uneven album, since the singles are spread throughout the album and there are pretty forgettable songs sprinkled in between them.

A classic of mid-00s UK indie - good memories of Naive and She Moves In Her Own Way from my childhood. Naive is the highlight on the album, a great song. But revisiting the whole album now it's more than just the hit songs. Enjoyed it. Should get more plaudits in this country especially, though I can kind of see how this sort of music doesn't make it internationally.