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Yet another band tipped for big things next year, The Kooks, a bunch of 18-22 year olds hailing from the thriving Brighton music scene, took to a sold out crowd at Islington's Bar Academy tonight to cap off a successful year to date, their first in the public limelight.
A major record deal with Virgin preceded well received tours with The Subways and The Dead 60's, before a top 40 single with Eddie's Gun back in July and an appearance at the recent V Festival alerted a wider audience to their prodigious talent.
Their sound has a distinctly poppy, song based feel to it - prog-rock this isn't, their concise and catchy, often reggae tinged three minute numbers bear more than a fleeting resemblance to great singles bands of the past decade such as Supergrass and Ash. A debut album isn't scheduled for release till early next year, but for now, the 200 or so fans who filled the Bar Academy were treated to an exciting, energy filled display that belied their tender years.
Bounding on stage at quarter to ten, front man Luke Pritchard wasted no time in getting things going - "Hello! We're The Kooks!" he declared, before the band burst into the effortlessly bouncy opener If Only. Throughout the song, he seemed unable to stand still, moving around with the music and giving it his all as he blurted out the words.
The same could be said for many in the audience - the visibly young crowd down the front seemed to love every minute of what they were witnessing, often accompanying Pritchard on the numerous choruses. The other band members were tight and certainly competent, but never exuded the charisma on their leader - you get the feeling that as chief songwriter and singer, this is very much Pritchard's band.
Their hit single (sort of) Eddie's Gun, was slipped in early on, and sounded just as crisp as it does on the radio - drums rolled, guitars chugged along, and there was Pritchard again to deliver it's memorable chorus. However, the highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the upbeat acoustic number, the charmingly titled Ooh La, a song that you transports you to an open top Cadillac on a Californian highway for its duration. Indeed, it will be a huge surprise if this isn't serenading large fields across the UK and beyond in a year's time.
The short half an hour set (It's difficult to expect much more from a new band with only one single to their name) drew to a close with a series of over zealous fans invading the stage and grabbing instruments in a riotous fashion not seen since the heady days of Doherty and Barat. Outside the venue, in an Islington shopping centre, a small tremor was registered on the musical Richter scale.
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