The Daily Spin II
The Kooks | Inside In / Inside Out
Welcome back to the Daily Spin. For the uninitiated, this is the series in which I review an album every day of 2025.
As was the case two years ago, my favorite song from each album can be found at the playlist linked here.
Album: Inside In / Inside Out (2006)
Artist: The Kooks
Link:
On an album that at times feels immature and directionless, the Kooks also bring forth some of the finest pop rock this side of the turn of the century.
Very close cousins with fellow Brits Arctic Monkeys in sound, there’s a grungy effect here that lies throughout every track, one that comes to be the soul of the record with time - the issue being the solvency of this mood.
On a record that’s fifteen songs deep, I would say about four of them have any sort of memorability to them, either good or bad. The rest are the sort of bland rock that scored much of the early 2000s - and unfortunately, a lot of the early 2000s sticks around in the sound of this album today.
This album has long been the subject of much criticism - and I feel that it’s a bit overdone, frankly. Yes, it has its issues, but there are some really intelligent touches that show a delightful whimsy underneath some of the more rote choices that were clearly aimed at superstardom more than anything else. Seeing the band delve into different genres here and there in the echoes is a sign that there’s heart under a record that, at times, feels as though it lacks it.
Rating: 7/10
Best Tracks: Naive, Do You Love Me Still?
Worst Tracks: Got No Love