Album Review: The Kooks - Let's Go Sunshine

Despite releasing a number of mediocre albums since their brilliant 2006 debut, Inside In / Inside Out, The Kooks have managed to escape the indie landfill and carve out a rather impressive career.

Let's Go Sunshine is the Brighton quartet's fifth studio album and another collection of playful, inoffensive indie-pop anthems sure to please the masses. After the unnecessary 22-second opening track, Intro, the vibrant Kids kicks the album into familiar Kooks territory. Melodic guitar riffs, polished production and frontman Luke Pritchard's familiar "ohs" are all present as the band follow the indie blueprint they helped create.

This isn't a bad thing, with the likes of the soaring Believe, handclap-featuring drug balled Four Leaf Clover and groovy Fractured And Dazed all solid indie-pop tunes featuring The Kooks signature sound. But as with their previous releases, when The Kooks stray from the path and experiment with their sound the results are mixed at best, with the bland Tesco Disco and poor rock effort Pamela sounding more filler than killer.

Let's Go Sunshine lacks a big single like previous Kooks releases, and while it fails to add to their legacy, the album will no doubt keep longtime fans happy.