It’s not clear why The Kooks are here, seeing as ByLarm is a celebration of all things Scandinavian and these two Brighton boys are as English as bad traffic. The reason is of little interest to the audience: they greet this acoustic appearance like The Second Coming. It’s hard to understand: perhaps Luke Pritchard’s scarf endears him to the locals. It certainly can’t be guitarist Hugh Harris’ bohemian thesp clothes, nor the joss-stick student bedsit vibes of anemic sub-La’s tunes that even The Proclaimers might dismiss (though there’s a Kinks-ish twist to songs like Mr Maker). So it must be, as my companion points out, that Norwegian blondes find them sweet. And they are cute: their naivety is charming, they grin like geeky kids who just got kissed by Ellen Page, and when they invite people to clap along their pleasure at the sight is sincere. I must be old: I thought the music mattered.
(Reviewed in the VG Teltet)
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