So it appears The Kooks have spent the last couple of years smoking something very illegal.
In the past, The Kooks have been compared to many of their contemporaries, most prominently Arctic Monkeys and The Fratellis. Together they were largely responsible for the Brit indie-pop invasion of the mid noughties. The band's new material could be seen as something of a retaliation, harking back to their primary influences: The Beatles, The Stones and other British bands of the '60s and '70s.
The result is The Saboteur, a track that's more psychedelic prog rock than indie-pop. It's far more experimental than what you'd expect from the band (especially considering their last big single was Always Where I Need To Be) and sounds almost Pink Floyd-esque in places. It eschews traditional pop structure, instead choosing constant shifts in time, key and style, with more twists and turns than a Dan Brown novel.
It's certainly a new direction for the band, but the jumble of ideas lacks cohesion and the pop hooks that are the band's trademark. In some ways they've lost their core sound and instead have written a track that is more self-gratifying than enjoyable for their listeners.
3/5
