The Kooks didn't have a problem writing songs for their second LP; they had a problem knowing when to say stop after six weeks of work at Ray Davies' Konk Studios in North London. (The album was actually named Konk as a tribute to the classic, nearly computer-free vibe of the place.)
"We listen to everything with our three managers and our A&R guy'"all the people that we trust," explains drummer Paul Garred. "We sit down, have a cup of tea and figure out what works and what doesn't, which can change from week to week. No matter how you look at it, some songs are gonna be great when you record them and some sound better in your head. Everything else goes back into our mental filing cabinet."
According to Garred, the Kooks wrote 100 tunes for Konk and recorded nearly twenty. The following are some of his favorites from the sessions, along with his running commentary.
"Always Where I Need to Be"
This was a rock 'n' roll number that came to us on the bus, really, because we're always playing that song [Garred mimes the "do do do" melody of Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side"]. A tune like that is full-on ballsy and exciting to play. Not only that, but it's exciting to listen to. We knew this would be the first single for the record two years ago.
I've listened to Velvet Underground here and there but [frontman] Luke [Pritchard] is the real VU enthusiast. If you played one of their songs for me, I could tell you how they go but I couldn't name them.
"So Vicious"
My favorite band is the Police. I saw two nights of their reunion tour in a row. I had to do it because they get away with [reuniting]. They're not trying to be young men, fitting in their size 30 jeans again. [Drummer] Stewart [Copeland]'s phenomenal'"an absolutely wonderful player that's tight and can push the tempo up or down. He's human, you know? He doesn't play like a metronome.
I pushed myself in a similar way on this song, but it simply didn't fit with the other tracks on the record'"maybe because it went from folk to heavy, dub-like reggae and back again, with contrasting rhythms and feels. We might release it as a B-side.
"All Over Town" (hidden track)
[Lead guitarist] Hugh [Harris] did this'"a whimsical tune with strings'"while I was away in India with my girlfriend. I loved it, though, so [including it] was a no-brainer, really. Since we already had the structure of the record together, we decided to make it a hidden track. My favorite hidden track is the one from the first Coldplay album. It's pretty wicked.
"Gap"
I wrote this when I could barely play piano, right after I lost my father. I brought it to the boys years ago, but it was almost too serious for a debut band, so we played it and set it away for later. When we pulled it out, everyone contributed to it and pulled it together. That's definitely a no-bullsh*t song. It's straight from the heart.
"Shine On"
This will probably be a single. It started with a tambourine and that Beach Boys-esque "God Only Knows" vibe. When we write songs we bring a positive undertone, even with the sad ones.
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De todos modos mi favorita es Gap, desde que escuche la versión demo me gustó, y ahora aún más sabiendo que en realidad la escribió Paul a su padre que falleció.
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