The Kooks
Let's Go Sunshine

A band loved/hated par excellence, the British The Kooks reach their fifth studio album with this "Let's Go Sunshine".

The new work by Luke Pritchard and company arrives just a year after the best of compilation with two (excellent) unreleased tracks "The Best Of... So Far," and it's co-produced by Brandon Friesen (a talented American producer and multiple Juno Awards winner) and Chris Seefried (Fitz And The Tantrums). If the initial intention was to continue with the "experiments" of the terrible "Listen" four years ago, the band then changed their mind and produced a work perfectly and deeply anchored in the britpop tradition.

Released by the even patient major Virgin (which waited four albums for a collection before giving the boys the boot), paradoxically, The Kooks are creating their best work since the spectacular debut "Inside In/Inside Out" (the one containing the super classic "Naive," to make it clear). "Let's Go Sunshine" is an inspired album, driven by Pritchard's excellent writing, who believes enough to create truly incisive and inspired pop gems (the britrock with substantial guitars of "Kids," the crystalline melody of "Four Leaf Clover" – really a great track –, the rawer "Tesco Disco" and the closing "No Pressure," the second single that brings back the sunny and carefree atmosphere of the ultra-successful debut).

There are some slight deviations from the British path, starting with the lead single "All The Time," a healthy swim in a delightfully eighties sea, passing through the punk rock of "Pamela" and the inevitable, always missed sixties ("Initials For Gainsbourg"). The production by the American duo is excellent, and The Kooks sound exactly how they should; maybe the impression would be even better if a couple of tracks had been cut (fifteen for an album of this kind are really a lot, and some repetitiveness emerges), but in the end, it is a venial sin that can gladly be cataloged as a desire to be "urgent".

Ultimately, The Kooks make a good attempt to get back on track, wisely restarting from where they left the last valid things. Time will be the best judge to decide if the move was the right one.

Best track: Four Leaf Clover