The Kooks - 'Always Where I Need To Be'

It’s been a rough couple of months for The Kooks in the build-up to the release of their second album, ‘Konk’. Just as it looked like bassist Max Rafferty had overcome the personal issues that had caused him to drift in and out of the group with an alarming predictability, The Kooks announced in a statement at the end of January that we wouldn’t be joining them again.

If this announcement has changed anything, then it’s enabled people to focus on The Kooks as musicians again. Although their comeback single ‘Always Where I Need To Be’ features Rafferty, it’s the frantically paced guitars and intricate riffs provided by Hugh Harris that leave an impression – shooting from each end of the spectrum to another lucidly. The tale is yet another one where Luke Pritchard tackles a guys obsession with a girl. “I’m always where I need to be,” he sings, in his familiar wailing way, “and I always thought I would end up with you eventually.” Their radio-savvy fans will love it as it races to replace ‘Naïve’ as the most rotated song on radio. For the rest of us though, it’s just a little too close to the over-familiar sound of their first album for comfort.

Released 31/03/08 on EMI.